HEILAGMANOTH

Dunwich is the brainchild of keyboardist and composer Claudio Nigris who started to work on this project back in 1985... The present line up was assembled in 2004, after three albums released in the nineties and a long pause. Along with Claudio Nigris, Dunwich now features Francesca Elayne Naccarelli on vocals and Roberto Fasciani on bass. In studio they got the help of a large number of guest musicians (including a choir and a string quartet) who provided an extremely rich musical texture. The result is a very interesting blend of dark metal, classical music, Celtic and Medieval influences that every now and again could remind of Rhapsody (Of Fire).

The excellent artwork describes with images the musical content... Most of the pieces have been inspired by the esoteric literary work by writers such as Gustav Meyrink ("La casa dell'alchimista") and H.P. Lovercraft ("Escape from Innsmouth") or by legends and myths. Lyrics are in Italian, Latin and English and words seem "swimming in the dark", sung by the beautiful operatic voice of Francesca Naccarelli, often backed by a powerful "church-like" choir. Keyboards and electric guitars perfectly interact with acoustic instruments like flutes and strings all along the album. My favourite tracks are the dark and mysterious "La casa dell'achimista" and "Il falso principio" that features an obscure and Medieval atmosphere and was inspired by the character of Giordano Bruno (1548 - 1600, Italian philosopher burned at the stake as a heretic by the Roman Inquisition) who was victim of a false principle and of his quest for knowledge... "Blind is who can't see the sun / Fool is who can't know / Ungrateful is who don't thank such as great light...". Good also "Terra di Ambra, Neve e Fuoco Nero" (Land of Amber Snow and Black Fire), conceived as a mystical musical journey through a forgotten frozen land... Anyway, the overall impression I got of all the tracks on this album is very positive.

On the whole if you're in dark symphonic metal atmospheres and you love the fantasy imaginary of bands like Rhapsody of Fire I'm sure that this album will be an excellent addition to your collection...

I was quite mislead with the band's profile and the comparison with the great "Renaissance". IMHHO, this has nothing to do with it. This album is quite bizarre. After an almost "Eternal Eclipse?" (title of their previous album released in 99), the band comes band with a totally new line-up (but one).

The music is still dark and at times it sounds folkish, or classical ,or heavy, or metal or gothic. Nothing too close from what I prefer to be honest. In their previous album, I compared their music to "Nightwish". The same feeling prevails for "Tales From The Ninth Wave". Very nice fluting though. "Beowulf" is pretty close as well.

My fave track is "La Casa Dell' Alchimista". A poignant song which mixes some of the influences I mentioned above. Still, I don't like very much the signing style of Francesca Naccarelli here. She has a beautiful voice but creates some excesses which aren't necessary. In this respect, the song which is the closest to the great Italian symph I like so much is the remarkable "Guardians Of The Treshold". The delicacy of the acoustic parts, the flute and the wonderful vocal harmonies are a very good moment, for sure.

After all, this is their best effort so far (but this was not a daunting task to release). Even if some parts of the album are pompous and somewhat metal oriented, it is compensated with fine and delicate instrumental passages of which the flute (of course!) conveys such a nice piece of emotion.

Their classical approach is felt during the first part of "Il Falso Principio"; after a while it turns into an orgy of vocals / choir that could lead you to drunkenness?Strange song indeed. Their earlier folkish style can be shared again while you listen to "The Flying Fear" or "Terra di Ambra Neve e Fuoco Nero". Some good Celtic flavour (quite strange from an Italian band, though). Very much "Iona" oriented.

This album combines several musical genres (but very little of the Italian one). From medieval atmospheres to heavy metal. Quite a programme!

Three stars.

A delightful mixture of genres and styles

A couple of months ago I found two DUNWICH albums on my favorite music store (A Prog fan in his late 50's who has a small stand on a third rate mall , but has the most unexpected material available or gets it for you in less than a week) two DUNWICH albums "Il Chiarore Surge Due Volte" and "Heilagmanoth".

Being that I knew the band was listed in RPI and because this guy sold them very cheap, got them expecting a band in the vein of PFM or BANCO DEL MUTUO SOCCORSO, probably good but most likely derivative, but thanks God I was wrong, DUNWICH is a box of surprises.

The already reviewed "Il Chiarore Surge Due Volte" is a Folk album with a clear Medieval - Renaissance atmosphere ,while "Heilagmanoth" is some sort of Gothic (Understood as the late Medieval Era, not as the cheesy Victorian revival) project melted with Industrial and Heavy Rock, somehow close to MIRANDA SEX GARDEN, with a touch of IRON MADEN and DEAD CAN DANCE but much more pompous.

Even before playing the music we can notice a huge difference, the band is no longer a trio but a quartet and the only original member remaining is Claudio Nigris, this really pissed me, because the most notable feature of the band was the outstanding voice of Katya Sanna, but again was surprised, because Francesca Elayne Naccarelli is at least as good as the original vocalist, the difference is that her range is a bit lower and with more capacity for the Heavy sections.

"Heilagmanoth" is opened by the weird "Aranmanoth", a 1:35 minutes intro full of haunting sounds, prayers and some sort of Gregorian Chants in the background, from the start we know this album is different to all the previous, and prepares us for the magnificent "La Casa dell' Alchimista", one of the most spectacular and ever changing songs I heard in years. As a fact we can listen extremely mysterious Gothic secular female vocals blended with male choirs, Baroque keyboards, a strong Industrial edge and of course pompous Symphonic Metal, wonderful piece of art, would make a fantastic soundtrack for a Dino de Laurentis film.

"Tales of the Ninth Wave" is a Celtic oriented ballad with a strong attitude, while Francesca and the flute create a delicate atmosphere, the keyboards, bass and percussion takes us into Metallic territory with Gregorian choirs, not as versatile as "La Casa..", but still very good.

The next song is "The Guardian of the Treshold", one of the most beautiful tracks of the album in which the voice of Francesca blends perfectly with a guitar in the vein of IRON MAIDEN (but softer) and precise drumming by Luca Iovieno who works as a human metronome, a nice contrast with the pompous and brilliant "Il Falso Principio", a song where Claudio Nigris is the star, playing one of the most varied and solid keyboard performances I heard in a long time.

"Beowulf" starts full of weird sounds until an organ solo takes us to the Baroque era while the vocals and choirs make an outstanding work leading the band towards a very heavy section that sounds almost as Symphonic Metal, incredibly, the song seems to continue in the following track "The Flying Fear" that adds the Metal elements with Medieval overtones creating an interesting counterbalance between opposite atmospheres. The rest is a fantastic mix of styles, genres and influences with heavy passages full of guitars in clear opposition with violins, flutes and mysterious voices, a path that is continued in the next two songs "Leaves on the Altars to the Moon" and "Terra di Ambra Neve e Fuoco Nero".

By the moment when we reach "La Lama il Ghiaccio e il Fuoco", the metallic element is the preeminent and the album is some sort of SYMPHONY X with operatic vocals, as if DUNWICH had already ended a ´progressive metamorphosis from XV Century toubadoresque music to Prog Metal, a fantastic voyage through five centuries of musical history done in fifty minutes. The last track "Heilagmanoth" is just a mysterious epilog created to finish the album in the same mood that started.

Already rated "Il Chiarore Surge Due Volte" with four stars, and being that "Heilagmanoth" is superior (Yes I love pompous music), leaves me no other alternative than giving five solid stars in this case.