ETERNAL ECLIPSE OF FROST

DUNWICH is an Italian band doing originally a blend of folk and symphonic progressive rock. Apart of this one here I'm owning only their second album which is completely different from "Eternal Eclipse Eclipse Of Frost" being neither pure Folk Prog Rock nor would I put it merely into the gothic corner. Instead this album is done for sure in a more artistic and progressive way than any gothic album (although I like this type of music as well a lot). It's really a nice blend of a gothic backbone with some symphonic elements known from 70s Italian bands and as well some folk influences. But it does not sound like a utter chaos at all and everything fits nicely together. The voice of Katya Sanna is stunning beautiful and beating every female singer, even the best ones like Tarja Turunen from NIGHTWISH in the gothic metal genre. Although having quite rocking parts now and then with excellent guitar playing the album never becomes too much metal-like overall and could be called a more mellow one, but not in a cheesy way at all. The acoustic parts using folk and classical type instruments are very well performed and the male choirs as counterpart to Katya's vocals is fitting as well nicely into the whole concept. During the past few years more and more bands have been showing up that are mixing influences from folk, gothic and acoustical classical music like WHITE WILLOW, AUTUMN TEARS or ARISE FROM THORNS for example. I have to say I find this type of music very interesting, innovative and as well nice to listen and it's almost asking for the creation of a complete new sub-genre since these bands usually don't fit in any of the standard "drawers". I find such "hard-to-categorize music" one of the most interesting ones because it's really something new. As a conclusion I'd like to say that this album is recommended for anyone interested in discovering new innovative music, as well for lovers of 70s Italian prog like PFM, Le Orme, Banco who are open for gothic rock music. Gothic fans should check it out anyway. Maybe it's not that interesting for "puristic progheads" since it's lacking a bit of complexity. But overall I find my 4 stars rating is justified.