GAIA'S LEGACY

'Gaia's Legacy' is the new album of Italian prog metal band Eldritch, released after four years of its predecessor. This one is actually a concept album, with a story and songs related to each other, so once you listen to the first track, you must listen to the rest of the songs, otherwise you may lose what it wants to share. The album is composed by twelve tracks, which make a total time of 60 minutes.

It starts with 'Gaia's Anger' which is just a one-minute introductory track, with spoken word and then synthesizers that open the gates to guitars and drums. It leads to 'Deviation', which has that evident metal sound, the rhythm is fast, and the power is inherent in its sound. Heavy guitars, symphonic-metal keyboards and a nice voice that may remind you to some older acts. Three minutes later you will listen to the almost mandatory guitar riff, that these type of metal bands use to do.

In 'Our Land' you will listen to the same radio-spoken voice that in the first track, but after a few seconds the song explodes, becomes faster and faster, adventurous and with a cardiac rhythm. The technical and compositional skills of the members are evident here, they are of course a trained and talented band. 'Vortex of Disaster' has a nice but tense atmospheric background, while the guitar, bass and drums put that heavy sound and feeling. The structure of the song is repeated twice in the first three minutes, then a guitar solo appears and the sound changes a little bit.

'Mother Earth' has a much softer sound, calm and even charming. The song has an emotive sound, in moments catchy, and seems not that closer to progressive rock at first, but give it a chance, in its second half it adds some riffs and interesting instrumental passages. 'Everything's Burning' starts with the omniscient spoken voice, but the rhythm is much heavier and faster than the previous track.

'Tonight Out' starts carefully, but all of a sudden it explodes and that sound full of energy appears. By this track, and if you are not a true metal fan (like me), you may start feeling a bit bored, but in the other hand, if you really like this genre, by this time you will be excited and enjoying it. 'Like A Child' has a nice guitar beginning, and then the song gradually progresses, little by little the structure is being built, with its changes and highs and lows.

'Signs' starts with only the voice speaking, then some applause, and so the music begins with a powerful impact, worth of a metal oriented band. The problem I have is that in moments I feel it pretty catchy, more oriented to hard-core or another recent subgenre (pardon my metal ignorance) but sometimes I believe it can be listened by a simple teenager. But well, the song itself is nice, with cool changes and nice structure.

'Thoughts of Grey' is one of my favorite songs, I like the soft piano implemented as background, it puts different colors, and gives diversity to the sound. The guitars, bass and drums are always good, and the voice maintains a great quality, though I have to admit it is not my complete cup of tea. Later the solos appear, you know. 'Thirst in our Hands (Gaia's Lament)' starts with a delicate piano sound, then it fades out and the voice appears in a softer way, with some distortion on it, then piano returns and vocals work together with it, now with a clean sound. Little by little guitars and keyboards join. This is a different track, and very healthy for the album. Finally 'Through Different Eyes', which start with a not so loud guitar riff, and later the metal sound starts and exemplifies the Eldritch style.

Nice album, honestly not my favorite metal release of the year, but as I mentioned above, if you are into this genre, then you will surely like it. My final grade will be three stars.

Enjoy it!