I’m starting to wonder if this 45s “Intro” is one of those which is played at a frequency only under 20’s can hear.

“Summoning the Crimson Soul” however is very audible. And very enjoyable to boot. The album as a whole reminds me a lot of Anathema and Opeth in the way it breaks down to beautiful piano pieces and then blasts back into heavily distorted guitars with death vocals.

Simone Mutolo tickles the ivories whilst Mauro Ragnoli and Simone Saccheri churn out powerful riffs followed by delicate picking on their guitars to Antonio Cantarin’s slow lengthy roars on “Unforgiven March”. And he’s not confined to roars, as he proves by singing ever so sweetly and melancholically.

All the tracks are of epic lengths and have more than one movement, making them involved and absorbing. I would say they slow down for “The Coldest Land”, but then they never really speed up, they just vary heaviness but keep things beautifully doomy.
Paolo Copeta’s brush strokes on his cymbals slowly become light taps then a steady rhythm on the toms and finally powerful snare pounding and hyper fast triggered kick drum clicking when warranted by “Internal Morphosis”.
Going very Pink Floyd for the intro to “Omnivoid”, the aural soundscape flows into the heavier guitar sustains all the while the keyboards keep the hypnotic base melody intact as an ever present undercurrent.
Perhaps calling “Disclaiming My Faults” haunting and mournful is a little cheesy, but I’ve used ‘beautiful’ far too many times already and the way the lead tugs at your heartstrings and brings tears to the eye is nigh on perfect. And just before it ends it kicks into the heaviest riffs they play, with the blasting drums and depth of the guttural roars only matched by Agostino Bellini bass riffs.

On the other hand “Once Was a Man” slowly weaves the keyboards into the guitars without the need to distort them and keeping the drumming light and soft, ’til the lead where the crescendo is required to climax exquisite.
Greg Chandler plays guitar and does some guest vocals on “Sounds from Out of Space” which concludes the album in a slow plodding fashion filled with black metal screams over drawn out sombre riffs as well as sorrowful clean vocals accompanied by mournfully picked guitar.

To be fair, I don’t really think my review does this album anywhere as much justice as it deserves because every listen has brought out extra layers that I didn’t hear the previous time and I’m pretty sure that’s going to keep happening for each repeated listen. If you enjoy doom death, you’ll love this. Just trust me on that one.

(9/10 Marco Gaminara)

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