Fleshgod Apocalypse ‘Veleno’ Review

'Veleno' by Fleshgod Apocalypse is a diverse and eclectic album that fans of the genre will certainly enjoy. ...

Released by Nuclear Blast Records

Release Date May 24th, 2019

Genre: Orchestral Death Metal

Tracklist:

  1. Fury
  2. Carnivorous Lamb
  3. Sugar
  4. The Praying Mantis’ Strategy
  5. Monnalisa
  6. Worship And Forget
  7. Absinthe
  8. Pissing On The Score
  9. The Day We’ll Be Gone
  10. Embrace The Oblivion
  11. Veleno

Line-up:

  • Francesco Paoli – Growled Vocals, Guitars, Drums
  • Paolo Rossi – Clean Vocals, Bass
  • Francesco Ferrini – Piano, Orchestrations

Live line-up:

  • Veronica Bordacchini – Soprano
  • Fabio Bartoletti – Lead Guitars
  • David Folchitto – Drums

Orchestral Death Metal masters Fleshgod Apocalypse fifth new album could be considered their most ambitious project up to date. After giving the impression of stepping away from guitar-based death metal by focusing on long orchestral pieces with “Kings” in 2016, it seems that a new era has started for the Italian trio.

Founder member Francesco Paoli is back on lead guitar and growled vocals and the band has showed a tendency of modifying their sound. “Veleno” is the result of adding more extreme and power metal elements to the already known symphonic/opera formula of the previous records. The creation of a homogeneous record by mixing different music styles is not an easy job but it seems that Fleshgod Apocalypse are a genius in this field. The eleven songs of “Veleno” are combined in a perfect way giving the impression of a one piece record. The intro track “Fury” starts with a storm of rhythmic guitar riffs that lead to an epic refrain, a melodic solo and a marvellous orchestral part in a dark atmosphere.

“Carnivorous Lamb” shows the power metal side of the band, a song full of melodies but also brutal elements that get in a perfect contrast with clean vocals by Paolo Rossi. The full potential of the band is demonstrated by “Sugar”, an insane and impressive combination of speed, melodic and aggressive elements, with an excellent work on the guitars and the piano part. The metal opera goes on with “The Praying Mantis Strategy”, a short instrumental tune that leads to “Monnalisa”. At this point, power and aggression give space to a theatrical melody with Soprano Veronica Bordacchini at her best interpretation, in full contrast though with classic heavy metal elements in this song. Unfortunately, there could be a sensation of emotional fullness to the listener, but the excellent compositions of Fleshgod Apocalypse make the situation easier for the public to go on with the remaining tunes.

The symphonic part of the record continues with “Worship And Forget”, a reminder of the latest three releases of the band. The final section of the album includes “Absinthe” where the bassist returns as lead clean vocalist giving a nervous and maybe irritating style to the song, followed by a death metal hymn entitled “Pissing On The Score”. The Soprano vocalist plays the main role in “The Day We’ll Be Gone”, maybe the most theatrical and less incisive song on”Veleno”. Luckily “Embrace The Oblivion” comes as a lifebelt, with Rossi again on lead clean vocals and this is a great conclusion for this record. The instrumental title track is the last song on the album. After a careful listening of “Veleno” we could say that the Italian band has made a lot of progress in creating professional music, giving birth to their most mature project of their career.

This new record is the living proof that the combination of different music styles is not too easy, but Fleshgod Apocalypse has made it in a magisterial way. On the other hand, the continuous alternation of emotions could be tiring for the listener, but the Italian trio knows how to keep a constant interest of the crowd for their music. “Veleno” includes eleven songs that could be small parts of a metal opera, all bonded in such a great way, that can give the impression of a unique piece. The diversity between the music elements could be the result of a spontaneous writing way, but their perfect fusion shows that the Italians are professionals in this field. This is not an easy album to listen to, but fans of the genre will appreciate the quality of the compositions and the effort of the band to improve themselves with this new project. Special compliments go to Travis Smith for the symbolic art cover.

Ratings: 7.5/10

Written by: Katerina Paisoglou

My Global Mind – Staff Writer

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