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Adramelch: Broken History
Adramelch - Broken History - [Underground Symphony]

2005-12-19

It is known that Italy has been, apart from Jerusalem itself, the center of the Crusades, mainly its capitol of Rome and the holy church and its head, the pope, the main engine behind the crusades.

It is but logical, then, that a concept album dealing with the crusades should be made by one of Italy's best metal bands, the legendary Adramelch.

Up until this album, the veteran band, created back in 1987, put out just one album, but that enough to turn them into somewhat of a mythological group, thus their return is to be celebrated, and the fact that Broken History is an almost flawless melodic metal album makes this even a happier occasion.

Musically they fluctuate between power metal and more old-school 80's NWOBHM stylings, and the band I think they reminded me the most was Iron Maiden, with their brand of strong, soaring vocals courtesy of Vittorio Ballerio, the great guitar work and duel harmony riffs, and the fantastic bass work by Maurizio Lietti.

Creating an historically centered concept album is no easy task, and its evident that Ballerio has put his heart and soul into the task, a precise historic take is woven throughout the album, with evident care being put into the correct dates and names pertaining to the crusades that are being told off in here.

From the get-go, the first track I'll Save The World exults professionalism and well crafted melody, the lyrics, unashamedly complicated, are the center of the vocals, but still manage to maintain a good melodic logic, guitars move from one galloping riff to another, and the rhythm section does a great job throughout, second track has more of the same, it has an epic feel to the proceedings and a good dose of Iron Maiden influenced quality.

Its on the next two tracks that the band's true uniqueness shines through, with Beloved Jerusalem being the ultimate epic track, moving from heartfelt clean guitar segments to melodic metal riffs with ease.

Adramelch stand separate from most Italian metal bands I know, while most create German influenced power metal, Adramelch seem to be more influenced by NWOBHM, each member of the band is a true professional, and the fact that the lyrics are so thought provoking, and totally different than the usual "Dungeons & Dragons" power metal lyrics, just adds another layer to an album that shines with sophistication and warmth.

This is definitely one of my candidates for this year's best metal albums, and in any case, it's good to have this band back.

Alon Miasnikov



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