ADAGIO

Dominate had a mainstream sound that didn't fit the band and was an inconsistent album, whereas this suffers from, despite having a more fresh sound, has absolutely no memorable tracks.

I listen to this album, I don't enjoy myself but I'm not pained by the music, but ultimately, by the end I put down the record and think to myself 'well that happened...'

There is nothing memorable or worth mentioning here. 'Codex Oscura' is my favorite song here but that's only because it's the one song that moves me in any kind of way (besides moving me to another album).

You would be much better off purchasing 'Sanctus Ignis' or 'Underworld'

2.25/5

If you're a fan of this band, you may well enjoy this record, if you want to check out 'Adagio' for the first time, please check out 'Sanctus Ignus' or even 'Underworld' before this.

Key tracks are 'R'lyeh The Dead' and 'The Darkitecht', the rest just feels like filler.

2.25/5

But it's not all bad... It's lost some of its classical influence (don't worry 'Adagio' will lose more), but much of the music is still very good. Stephan Forte is an amazing guitarist and has the capabilities to write some absolutely fantastic music. Listen to 'Next Profundis', 'From My Sleep...To Someone Else', 'Underworld' and 'Niflheim' (which somehow got a lot better since the last cd) for a sense of what these guys can do. Unfortunately too much feels like filler and there is too little variety for this to be a worthwhile cd.

3.25/5

That being said, there are faults, one of them being the ending, it falls a bit, 'The Immigrant Song' and 'Niflheim' do not hold up as well as the rest of the album. The other issue I have is with the vocals, he seems like he struggles to hit the high notes and at times, the harsh vocals do not fit the often classical sounding music.

That being said, this is still a fantastic album that deserves the attention of any prog metal fan, or anyone that needs evidence of a good neo-classical prog metal album

4.25/5

Yep, just like the one Bach wore on his paintings with the puffy sleeves and the cauliflower on the neck. On the more serious side, Adagio is offering a nice (but too sparse) blend of baroque and roll. The keyboard player is giving his share of harpsicord and the impressive choir is giving a zest of gothic impression in an album that doesn't really part from your typical metal band. The singer is howling to the moon, the double bass drum is almost always present and the guitars are vertiginous but non-surprising. They have talent, oh yeah.

The only thing that drawed me to this album was the reviews saying 'it's a blend of classical music and metal'. It is, but not enough to give a deep impression. Try it, you probably will like it if you're looking for something melodious, catchy and loud. I just love the blend of classical music and metal, I think it's such a killer approach. But to me the classical vein should've been more exploited; they had something going on some tracks!

Good but needs more cowbell.

Pompeous, over inflated sound is what this album brings my speakers and then my senses. The album is based on verse-choir-verse-solo-choir.... well, you get my drift. The vocals is a mix of growls and normal vocals. The guitar solos is diddely-dey-diggi-lo-diggi-lei which is far too common within the power metal genre. The melodies are pretty simple, although the big sound tries to dress up the songs into something greater than they are. The inclusion on this album of a dreadful version of the title track from the very popular movie & TV series Fame is something I cannot fathom. It devalues this album and the band.

There are some pretty good songs here on this album. But Fame is dreadful and so is a couple of other songs too. There is no great songs on this album at all. The solos is uninspired and only the tangent player and the vocalist escapes from this album with their good reputation intact. This album is best forgotten.

2 stars

The album starts strongly on Second Sight and flows very well. The classical influence is very prominent, yet not overwhelming and in fact perfectly mixed with the guitars, bass, and drums. Forte is a virtuoso-level guitarist, and his solos are both technical and captivating. However, Richard Andersson, while good as a keyboardist, does not provide the same experience as Kevin Codfert who would later replace him and be featured on all prior Adagio albums.

The album, overall, is a strong mix of classical music and metal. Forte composed all of the songs, and he did an excellent job.

Highlights: Inner Road, In Nomine, and above all Stringless Violin

Overall: 4.5

This album succeeds in creating a mysterious, bleak atmosphere, yet all the while remaining beautiful. The orchestra lends grandiose and majesty while not remaining overused. The guitar solos are executed well and highly technical, yet not to an obnoxious extreme. The keyboards are delivered brilliantly by my favorite keyboardist, Kevin Codfert, and add an entirely new dimension to the music. Franck Hermanny's bass, while not very audible, shines when it can be heard.

The music flows well from track to track, and the band shines on every one of them. This album is very good and is one of the better neo-classical prog metal albums out there.

The songs are fairly good, but not always memorable. Regardless, there are some gems on this album, such as The Astral Pathway, the title track, and Codex Oscura. The songs flow fairly seamlessly into each other, with the exception of Undead. The song has a beautiful piano intro, but the guitar riff that immediately proceeds it is not transitioned into well. This album also suffers from some forgettable tunes, such as The Fifth Ankh.

All in all, Forte succeeded in creating a very dark and heavy atmosphere with a dominant guitar, yet he did not completely capture the beauty of Underworld. This album, while fun to listen to and filled with expert musicianship, fails to captivate me like other Adagio albums. There is no track on this album that can compete with the Stringless Violin from Sanctus Ignis, or Introitus from Underworld, or R'Lyeh the Dead from Dominate.

Overall, 2.7 stars.

Adagio is the musical concept from another disciple of the neo-classic treatment of electric guitar in last time, his name as some of you already know is Stephan Forté. A guitar virtuoso young promise from France (well, that was a decade ago) who could build a talented act, piece by piece for Sanctus Ignis' recording sessions.

Names like David Readman (main voice on German hard rock band Pink Cream 69), the veteran drummer from Holland Dirk Bruinemberg, the young skilled bassist Frank Hermanny (who's known for working not only in metal and progressive music, but also on jazz and pop music projects in France) and finally the man who's considered as the keyboard version of Yngwie Malmsteen (because of his speed, virtuosity, skill and both are from Sweden), Richard Andersson. They helped him to make his dream come true.

Sanctus Ignis was the first step into the professionalism in music for Stephan, but no one would imagine how powerful and ambitious his music would be. The record is highly enjoyable the most, they focus on existentialist topics in their lyrics, musically they develop a kind of 50/50, I mean, they distribute the melody and progressive marks as much as they give energy and virtuosity to each song.

Songs like "second sight", "in nomine", "sanctus ignis" and "paneut et circences" are authentic exercises of how to play classy prog-power metal while other tracks like "the inner road", "stringless violin" and specially "the seven lands of sin" take us through the complexity of guitar chords, catchy double bass changes, a remarkable work on keyboards and David Readman is taking the flag higher with every line helped by his plethoric voice.

Maybe I would say their only weak point (I must be honest about it) is the lack of originality, but who cares when stuff like this is made so well. To conclude this review I recommend you try to get the Japanese version, there you'll find a nice version of Led Zeppelin's immigrant song.

By: Epsilon.