ODYSSEA – Tears In Floods

Odyssea is an Italian Power Metal band, and their debut album follows in the typical Italian sound of the finest Power Metal acts. Italy has a tradition on Power Metal, and whether or not that trend has a positive or negative meaning for European Metal music is a matter of musical taste.

This band is a side project from the Labyrinth guitarist Pier Gonella, and he managed to get a solo deal with Scarlet Records. Since 2000, Gonella has been writing songs and searching for musicians for this new band. During this time, he has recorded a lot of demos with different singers and musicians. He ended up with these guys from the Italian Metal scene: Carlo Faraci – vocals, Steve Vawamas – bass, Chris Parisi – drums, and himself on the guitars. On this debut CD, Tears in Floods, we also find two guest vocalists, Wild Steel (Shadows of Steel) and Rob Tiranti (Labyrinth).

So what is going on with this newcomer, you may ask … this debut album (released October 4, 2004) is no indication of the band’s true potential. It/ s a bit bumpy – some of the songs are lacking that final spit and polish. The band combines Heavy Metal with electronic music, and they actually do a pretty good job. The songs are full of tempo changes, and the compositions do provide some excitement … they are powerful and fast with layers of guitars and keyboards. Gonella plays the guitar solos so fast and pure, it/s definitely good for head banging. Besides the good guitar work, there also is some decent bass, keyboard, and drum work on this album too.

“Burning Time” is a good song where Mr. Gonella really shows his skills in the guitar intro. This is again a typical power song. “Tears in Floods” is another track that is worth a few words. This song starts with an instrumental part and a guitar solo and some solid keyboard sound. It’s a sad song, and after an instant silence the drums explode with the synths. The voice of Faraci does not fit 100% with all the material, but in this song he is singing great, and has a perfect balance. The song vasolates from slow to heavy to deep. The lyrics are a bit “popish,” but this is the best track on the CD.

Odyssea create their own world, which seems real and surreal at the same time, with a symbiosis of contrary elements, like heavy brutality and beautiful, gentle melodies. However, their songs are maybe lacking in originality … some songs are a bit monotonous and lack the perfect groove. It’s the sort of thing you either love or hate. Either way, Tears in Floods is a decent debut album in the Melodic Power Metal vein, but not on the cusp of “making it big” at this time.