Adagio – Archangels In Black (2009)

After Adagaio’s great first two releases they have fallen into an identity crisis. They have been experimenting with several different styles of music, but failing to create decent release. “Archangels In Black” represent another attempt at creating different sounding release, but their repetitive heavy sounding guitars make this release another miss from this French band.

Adagio’s original Progressive Power metal is still present in some songs, and there are many great moments in this album, but they are drowned by the repetitive heavy guitars, and some growls / harsh vocals here and there. The drumming style has changed a bit, but you can still hear the brilliant tempo changes and the intensity from before. There are also changes that accommodate the slower style of music, but in general they are still pretty good.

This is the first album from their new vocalist Christian Palin and you can clearly see the difference. His vocal range is not as wide like his predecessor, but his deeper vocal style fits the new ‘direction’ this band is heading for. I think one of the problems of this band has been all member changes (especially vocalists) that have occurred over the years.
The only thing that I can praise completely about this release is the brilliant keyboards. They provide some great ‘solos’ in some songs, and they also create the overall atmosphere of the album. They are never over done and sometimes just a few notes complement the weirdness of the music perfectly.

I won’t say this release is terrible, since there are great moments, but it does have the feeling that something was missing. If you are expecting a traditional Prog / Power metal release you won’t find it here, but you will be able to find an interesting experimental release.

Country: France