The 7th Guild - Triumviro Review • Strah

The 7th Guild are a project that began with Skeletoon’s Tomi Fooler whose dream was to put together a trio of commanding metal singers in the vein of the legendary Three Tenors and pay homage to the rich Italian cultural heritage. Well, that would be pretty interesting. Fooler recruited Rhapsody of Fire’s Giacomo Voli and former Vision Divine/Derdian’s Ivan Giannini to form this magic entity. Catchy power metal melodies wrapped in an operatic music style; classic orchestral arrangements meet bombastic cinematic patterns, resulting in a wonderful choral result resulting in their debut album “Triumviro” which is a journey through the most iconic Italian arts form led by compelling songs that combines the majesty of opera and the attitude of symphonic power metal. “Triumviro” also features Gamma Ray and The Unity Michael Ehré on the drums, DGM Simone Mularoni on the guitars, Freedom Call and Bloodorn Francesco Ferraro on the bass, Ancient Bards Daniele Mazza on the orchestras and arrangements, and Vision Divine and Deathless Legacy Alessio Lucatti on the keyboards and piano. That is mostly what the press release says about the album with a few modifications So, let’s check it out, shall we?

I have to confess I was not aware of this Metal Three Tenors homage intent before listening to “Triumviro.” However, from where I am standing, with this all-stars formation from head to toe, “Triumviro” should easily be considered the wonder of the year, yet, somehow the outcome is not the expected. “Triumviro” is not an album with capital letters, it is a standard Power Metal album with vocals that are a little far from the expected. Period.

Ok, that said, let’s go to the album, shall we?

“Triumviro” commences with the emotional “Holy Land,” a track that captures the essence of modern Power Metal with melodic vocals, faster-than-hell drumming, and Helloween inspired guitars. A great track if the dear fan is not aware of whom is besides it. That’s the problem with “Triumviro.” Tomi Fooler, Giacomo Voli, and Ivan Giannini, the Metal music Three Tenors, set the expectation bar much too high. Too high in a level that it’s not easy to reach. “Holy Land” is great, but the expectation is higher. The same happens to band name “The 7th Guild;” flawless instrumentals, grand orchestrations, but the feeling something is missing. On the other hand, Angra must happy with the homage, because all tracks have something of them. Ironically, Shaman’s cover “Fairy Tale” does justice to the honored band. To be fair with the band, the greatest moment is when the promisses of honoring Italian heritage are fulfilled with “La Promessa Cremisi” and “In Nomine Patris.”

It is hard to say, but I am disappointed. Maybe, my opinion would be different if I hadn’t known about “Triumviro‘s” story. As I said before, the trio set the bar too high and, nowadays, high bars are so difficult to reach due to all we are living. I guess we are expecting too much.

The 7th Guild “Triumviro” was released on February 21st via Scarlet Records.

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