Fleshgod Apocalypse - Veleno (2019)

Hailing from Italy, Fleshgod Apocalypse has stormed the Symphonic Metal scene with their highly refined orchestral brutality. Perfectly blending dramatic orchestrations with complex Death Metal elements, this band delivers some of the most extreme melodic music ever written. With “Veleno”, the band further expands on their heavier side with brutal passages, and on their more melodic and theatrical side with very dramatic vocal arrangements and mellow interludes.

Opening with the ravaging brutality of “Fury”, the band makes their skills do the talking since the first song. Perfectly delivering crushing Death Metal riffs and growls in between dramatic choral arrangements, this track is quite a way to start the release. Moving on to “Carnivorous Lamb” and “Sugar”, the band showcases their dramatic orchestral layers and vicious guitar leads in yet another brutal piece. The combination of male harsh vocals, mad male clean vocals, and sweet female clean vocals works quite well and adds extra contrast to these tracks.

The band’s abilities to combine musical genres allows them to seamless deliver tracks like “Monnalisa” and “Absinthe”, both of which are more mellow and experimental, but yet feature powerful guitars and brilliant drumming. With Francesco Paoli handling, guitars, vocals and drums, at least in the studio, you can hear his totally brilliant skills in each one of the album’s superb songs, particularly in one of our favorites “Pissing on the Score”. For those looking into more Gothic and female-driven territories, the superbly dramatic “The Day We'll Be Gone” is a brilliant piece where you get the typical beauty-and-the-beast vocal duet, with a richer orchestral context and crushing guitar leads.

As the album winds down with the playful “Embrace the Oblivion” and the album title instrumental outro, we are left blown away by the quality of this album. Overall, “Veleno” is one hell of a step forward for this crushing band. Focusing on refining their strengths, the band delivers some of the most lush and brutal songs we have ever heard. Brilliantly juggling their crushing Death Metal core with a very theatrical vibe, we are sure that all fans of the band will enjoy this release as much as their previous ones. For those that are not familiar with the band, this album will certainly appeal to your taste if you like highly melodic and orchestra Extreme Metal.

Label: Nuclear Blast Records

Release: May 24th, 2019

Genre: Extreme Symphonic Metal

Country: Italy