Released By : Self Released
Genre : Epic Film Score
Links : http://www.cristianofilippini.com/
Tracklist:
01. The First Crusade
02. The Sword Of The Rose P. I
03. The Sword Of The Rose P. II
04. The World Traveler
05. Deus Vult
06. March Of The Heroes
07. Arabian Skies
08. Knights Of The Cross
09. Reflections
10. Spirits
11. Gate Of Lions
12. To The Battle Field
13. Aenigma
14. The Triumph Of The Cross
Righto then… Before I get right into this review I have to be totally honest with you guys…. THE FIRST CRUSADE features absolutely no metal music at all, and no rock music either while we’re at it. “Then what the hell is it doing on here” I hear you ask…. Well stick with me and if possible keep an open mind just for now.
Cristiano Fillipini is an Italian multi-instrumentalist and also composer who just so happens to share an interest in all things metal. I mean take a look at that album artwork and title…THE FIRST CRUSADE. Very power metal sounding title and the songs are split into chapters and sequences a-la progressive rock & metal. Musically however, this is strictly movie score sounding stuff with a very operatic edge. Overall the pieces of music are a little sparse and I couldn’t help but wish there was a few more epic sounding moments throughout the disc, but the fact that this entire product was composed and also played by Filippini makes that a very understandable fact.
It’s difficult to know exactly who to recommend this one to as it’s not musically inclined enough to really appeal to the metal market, and it’s lack of intricacies and density would make it a little unsuitable for classical music fans. I will however say that I thoroughly enjoyed my time with THE FIRST CRUSADE and will certainly use this disc as background music occasionally for a long time yet. What I really would like to see would be a team-up of Fillipini and either Tobias Sammet or Arjen Lucassen as I think his clearly classically trained ear would and ability to write score like pieces would really work well with a progressive melodic metal group or something like that. Still, please do support Cristiano and at least check it out, there’s plenty to like here for the open minded music fan.
Written By ZeeZee
Rating : 7/10