Another band that needs to filed away under the banner of “one to keep your eye on”.

Starting life as a Symphony X, Dream Theater and Blind Guardian covers act, Italian symphonic metal group Wind Rose has grown and evolved into a very interesting band indeed . They first came to the notice of the people at Bakerteam records through their three track self titled EP, which was produced by Christiano Bertocchi (Vision Divine, Labyrinth). The Bakerteam people decided that a full album was needed and here it is in its full glory.

Once again produced by Bertocchi, ‘Shadows Of Lothadruin’ is a fanatsy concept story (stop groaning, you at the back) about Kings, Usurpers, Knights and War and the way the band have used spoken word passages throughout the album to help guide you along as the music plays is very clever. Yet don’t worry that the term symphonic metal might have just left you cold because Wind Rose and their music, has more to do with early Symphony X than the Rhapsody’s of this world. What makes this album decidedly different from a lot of the other symphonic metal acts out there, are the brilliant keyboards of Federico Meranda, who has a much more sedate AOR like touch, than the usual over the top 100 million notes per-second keyboardists that a lot of other bands have in their ranks. His touch and feel help to bring whole new dimensions to Wind Rose and the music that they play.

Being a concept album filled with spoken word passages doesn’t make ‘Shadows Of Lothadruin’ an easy CD to review, so I’ll pick out just a couple of tracks I’d specifically like to mention. Firstly there’s the ten minute marathon called ‘Majesty’ a bold cut filled with clever time signatures and sweeping arrangements that take the listener on a journey of discovery. The combination of superb musicianship and strong vocals make for a great song. Secondly we have ‘Close To The End’ an eleven minute plus epic in all senses of the word, a track that encompasses all that is good about the music of Wind Rose. The guitars, bass and drums build minute upon minute as the song plays and when joined with the forceful keyboard runs of Mr Meranda and the powerful vocals of Fransceso Cavalieri, Wind Rose show the world that they have come up with a magnificent tour de force to both showcase their combined talents and to end their album in style.

I like ‘Shadows Of Lothadruin’ a lot because for me it is a different take on the usual symphonic metal sound that we have all become so used to. Drawing instead from those deep wells of classic rock, prog and metal, rather than just from a single reference source, Wind Rose have made a great start to their recording career with this album, make no mistake.

Another band that needs to filed away under the banner of “one to keep your eye on”…

Ian Johnson