Mandagora Scream - Volturna (2009)

Founded by Morgan Lacroix, Mandagora Scream is an Italian Gothic Metal/Rock band that has been around since 1997. The band's main characteristic is Morgan's unique voice, that once you hear it once, it's almost impossible to not recognize again.

If you are thinking that Mandagora Scream only has to offer Morgan's vocals, you are deeeply mistaken. The band creates a very dark atmosphere in all their albums and "Volturna" is no different, the enthralling keyboard arangements mixed with electronic elements set the stage for a layering of different vocal tracks and very basic, but effective, distorted guitars.

The thing that I love about this band is the way that some songs don't sound like anything else in the album or in the band's discography, take for example the song "Blindness" and compare it to anything else on the album. The lush accoustic guitars with the minimalistic keyboard notes create a very dramatic atmosphere and with the different vocal styles, you have the most emotional song of the album. Then you are back to the dark-electro style with the next song "Farewell" and it's still very boombastic and dramatic in it's own way, but it's nothing like the previous track. Having this versatility makes this band very unpredictable and highly enjoyable to listen.

"Volturna" also features covers from Cher's "Bang Bang" which is 'interesting', and from Visage's "Fade To Grey". In both of this songs Mandagora Scream makes the songs theirs and creates a very interesting take on those songs, something I really appreciate from bands since I think that just 're-playing' the same song is pretty lame when bands with a unique sound do covers.

If you are looking for a very diverse and rich sounding Gothic Metal/Rock with some Electro elements, look no further and get Mandagora Scream's latest album "Volturna", I'm pretty sure you wont be disappointed since this release offers something for everybody.

Release: November 21st, 2009

Country: Italy