Infinita Symphonia – A Mind’s Chronicle (2011)

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Arriving all the way from Italy to North America through End of Light records, today we have Infinita Symphonia and their debut full-length release “A Mind’s Chronicle”. With their traditional Power/Heavy Metal approach that features some symphonic elements as the album progresses, this Italian band delivers around 55 minutes of excellent music that while not very original, it is very well crafted and perfectly executed.

Opening with the powerful “Lost in My Own Brain” the band shows their chops in creating catchy and effective songs. The layered vocal sections are top notch and the guitar work is very well crafted, there are even some ‘harsh’ screams to add to the intensity of the track. “Mighty Storm” delivers more waves of crunchy riffs and very potent vocals, but the guitar work around the 3 minute mark is what takes the spotlight in this song. There is nothing overly pretentious and exaggerated about Infinita Symphonia’s music, and this is what makes them so good.

The power ballad is a required staple in Power/Heavy Metal albums and on ”The Illusion”, the band delivers at a very high level. There are some symphonic elements here, but nothing too extreme that deters any fan of traditional Power/Heavy Metal to fully enjoy this song. In a Stratovarius-like fashion, “Planet Universe” is another excellent piece that nicely elevates the level of this release. With some futuristic keyboards and a very melodic nature, “Here There's No Why” is one of our favorite songs of the release, probably because Fabio Lione provides his vocal talents to this song.

Our favorite of the song has to be the very emotional “Only one Reason” that features the participation of Tim “Ripper” Owens. In this song the guitars are excellent and both vocalists duel it out for around 6 minutes and 20 seconds. The most ‘symphonic’ track of this release is “Lost and Found”, another well-crafted emotive piece that features a great vocal performance of the band’s own vocalist Luca Micioni. The acoustic song “From Earth to Heaven” again makes Luca shine, and also showcases the band’s ability to change up their style and craft a very different track.

The lush arrangements of “The Equation of the End” reminded us a bit of Sons of Season, particularly when the guitars kick in and the song becomes a bit hectic and more ‘Metal’ in a way. The album closing track lets the band go out with a band with another song filled with excellent riffs and more vocal magic that even features some female vocals thrown into the mix.

As a whole “A Mind’s Chronicle” is an excellent release that will surely take you by surprise due to it amazing quality and production values. Infinita Symphonia has all it takes to be the next Stratovarius, or any other big name band, the guitars are excellent, the vocals are amazing and the rest of the instruments don’t fall too much behind. If you are looking for an album that is very powerful and not overly done, look no further and get this amazing release now available in North America.

Band: Infinita Symphonia Album: A Mind’s Chronicle
Label: End of the Light Records

Release: 2011

Oficial Site myspace
Genre: Symphonic Power/Heavy Metal

Country: Italy

Rating: 88/100

 

 

 

 

 

 

John 3:16 – Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God (2011)

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Hailing from Switzerland, today we have the experimental one-man music making machine John 3:16. Fusing ambient sounds with some electronic/drone sections and a dosage of Post-Rock, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” is one of those EP’s that will captivate you from start to finish with its hypnotic sound and perfectly crafted songs.

The intro track “Earthly Father” wills enshroud you with mystery due to the drone elements an hints of ethereal atmospheric influences, but this track does not really give away anything that is to come. In “In the Name of the Lord”, the music continues to be dark with its droning elements and it suddenly moves into the Post-Rock area with some excellent guitar work. The drums get a bit annoying in the background, but I guess they are used to contrast for the first 2 minutes of so. Then this piece turns completely ethereal with some nice atmospheric elements and very dreamy guitars. This song reminded us a bit to God Is An Astronaut and similar bands due to the dark atmosphere around it.

The magical aural trip continues with “Obey God”, a very catchy track that goes a bit into the ambient/pop side of things but without any vocals to ruin it, this track is actually pretty intense and well crafted. “Redemption” offers more atmospheric goodies to nicely keep the album flowing, but maybe the band’s sound is getting a bit too familiar (read: repetitive).

Closing with the hypnotic “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, John 3:16 nicely summarizes everything presented in this EP in just one track. We have a powerful atmosphere, droning drums, and post-rockish guitars all in one place. The song nicely builds up and culminates around the middle, just to slowly die off and make you want to hit the play button again.

Overall, John 3:16 is a pretty solid one-man effort that delivers very well crafted tracks with haunting atmospheres. The combination of genres is seamless and makes each track work very well. If you are looking for some good atmospheric/post-rockish music, look no further and get “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”.

Band: John 3:16 Album: Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
Label: Alrealon Musique

Release: 2011

Oficial Site myspace
Genre: Ambient/Drone/Post-Rock

Country: France / Switzerland

Rating: 84/100
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