"Sacrificium" is an excellent Symphonic Power
metal album with aspects of folk and even a touch of Gothic sprinkled into the
mix. The album starts off with a 10-minute epic "Sacrificium" setting
the tone from the get go. The song itself starts off with plenty of energy
complete with nice melodies and a catchy chorus, which comes to a bit of a
crawl towards the 2/3 mark, but picks right back up afterwards. Of course, the
idea was to put Dianne van Giersbergen's operatic vocals of full display to let
the listener know that her voice would be taking charge throughout the album.
Well, message received. I know everyone will quickly offer similar female
fronted bands when looking for a comparison, but when "Nightfall"
hits, all I can think about is a strong connection to the greats like: Rhapsody
or Avantasia. I don't know why, but the tempo of the song, the anthemic vocals
just got me rocking like those bands do so often. Anyhow, the music is very
memorable with excellent flow and energetic riffs. The symphonic aspects,
again, have a clear Rhapsody of Fire influence, which balances the music and
vocals into a nice harmony. There are a few ballads on the album, that always
seem to be mandatory with power metal, that I could have done without, but are
by no means unpleasant or unnecessary. At the end of the day,
"Sacrificium" was a very nice surprise for me, as this was my first experience
with the band. One that, after reading some previews, established fans seemed
to have worried about, but those worries were easily put to rest. I look
forward to exploring their other albums and would recommend this album to any
power metal junkie.
Highlights: "Sacrificium" "Nightfall"
"Betrayer"
Rating: 4
Rating: 4
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