Certainly one of the more enjoyable Symphonic/Gothic Metal albums I’ve heard this year.

This is Italian band Evenoire’s sophomore effort coming after ‘Vitriol’ in 2012 and pretty much continues their brand of Symphonic/Gothic Metal with a Medieval and Folk flavour, although more emphasis has been placed on the Metal as opposed to the Folk this time around.

Hailing from Cremona and led by the striking presence of lead singer and Soprano extraordinaire Elisa ‘Lisy’ Stefanoni, this album focuses on the elements of fire as befits their Pagan lyrics and the mythological creatures and deities that accompany it, whereas ‘Vitriol’ was centred around the themes of water (albums three and four will no doubt centre on the remaining classical elements of earth and air). It was recorded at Dreamsound studios in Munich which is co-owned by Jan Vacik (ex Dreamscape Keyboardist, who incidentally are fronted these days by the legendary Francesco ‘Frank’ Marino) who did the mixing and mastering. I’m not sure why three producers were used in Mario Lochert (Visions Of Atlantis, Emergency Gate and co-owner of Dreamsound Studios) Dejan Djukovic and Daniel Rehbein, but you remember that old proverb “too many cooks spoil the broth”?

Between Lochert, Djukovic, Rohbein and Vacik they’ve also managed to squeeze fellow Italian Riccardo Studer (Stormlord amongst several others) in to contribute keyboards and production and therefore managed to create a very dense sound dominated by Stefanoni’s ethereal powerful vocals and swirling layered keys by, I assume, Studer. Alessandro Gervasi and Toshiro Brunelli’s guitars chug away slightly lower in the mix and the bass and drums of Marco ‘Bino’ Binotto and Daniele ‘Furo’ Foroni are barely noticeable at times. Of course it may just be the particular file copy I was given so one can’t read too definitively into that, but Vacik’s input could have been key. However, I decided to check them out on Youtube and found Binotto to be quite an accomplished technical finger bassist with more than a hint of Jazz schooling noticeable whilst Foroni was more than competent.

Linnea Vikstrom, who featured on the remarkable adventurous Metal band Therion’s 2010 album ‘Sitra Ahra’ (and toured with Kamelot in 2012) duets with Stefanoni on ‘Tears Of Medusa’ which is an inspiring, urgent fast-paced Soprano filled Metal-fest. Stefanoni also plays the flute and it is this that gives the band their Folky flavour as she plays it prominently throughout the album. Her Medieval flute-style tops off the double bass drumming, urgent riffing and choral progressions of ‘Drops Of Amber’ whilst ‘Season Of Decay’ is as bombastic and passionate as one can get.

Certainly one of the more enjoyable Symphonic/Gothic Metal albums I’ve heard this year and the Folk and Medieval elements add a unique flavour.

Carl Buxton