MASTERCASTLE – Wine Of Heaven

Mastercastle is an Italian Heavy Metal band whose sound is ripe with tension between the virtuosic drive of Pier Gonella on guitar and the free-soaring beauty of Giorgia Gueglio on vocals.  Their sixth full-length album, Wine Of Heaven, is a nine song, forty-plus minute testament to their brand of Traditional Metal infused with elements of Neoclassical, Power, and Progressive Metal.  The songs have a dark energy.  The lyrics and music have a brooding and yearning quality which may limit the album’s appeal to a wide audience.

The album mix centers on vocals and keyboards.  The rest of the band is captured in a vast and airy space.  The mix provides superior clarity for the melodic elements but less in the way of grit or power.  The lone exception is the instrumental “Castle In The Sky” where Gonella’s guitar dominates.  The first three songs are well constructed and represent the album’s best moments.  The lead track, “Drink Of Me”, features up-tempo keyboards offset by the doomy crunch of Gonella’s guitar.  This type of intricate keyboard and guitar interplay carries on through the second song “Space Of Variations”. The third song and title track continues this successful formula albeit with a stronger and more recognizable chorus.  With the exception of “Black Tree’s Heart” a plodding ballad that fails to engage, and the rocker “Making Love” in which Gueglio’s vocals don’t seem to be the best fit, the remaining songs are good, just not as high quality as the opening tracks.

While Wine Of Heaven may not be your best choice to play at parties, fans of Neo-Classical Metal who appreciate excellent guitar work and powerful female lead vocals will want to check out this album.

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