Degrees of Truth – Alchemists
Release Date: 23rd June 2023
Label: Scarlet Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Symphonic Metal, Progressive Metal.
FFO: Dream Theatre, Pain of Salvation, Nightwish, Epica, Seventh Wonder, Haken.
Review By: Mark Waight
Alchemists is the very highly anticipated third album from Modern Symphonic/Progressive Metal band Degrees of Truth. Alchemists introduces us to Degrees of Truth’s incredible new vocalist Claudia Beltrame who adds more than just a sprinkling of stardust to the mix. Alchemists is chock-full of catchy melodies, symphonic orchestrations and superb guitar riffs which are more than complimented by the pure rock, delicate chants and operatic vocals of Claudia Beltrame.
Degrees of Truth is Claudia Beltrame (vocals), Daniele Brianza (guitar, ukulele), Gianluca Parnisari (keyboards, piano, additional percussion), Lorenzo Corsalini (bass) and Luca Ravezzani (drums).
Imperfect Concoction is anything but, the album opener with its purely instrumental soundtrack and symphonic arrangement slowly builds up the anticipation and expectation of what is to come with its rich indulgent depth in sound. Exploding onto the scene, Godless Symphony delivers exactly what fans of this genre expect. Huge sound, killer riffs and well-placed symphonics. The musical delivery is totally spot on, and the vocals are completely divine. Beautiful!
Over the Tide is a little more Progressive in its nature, without drifting too far away from its Symphonic roots. There is a little more electronic input to this track, which further enhances another lovely orchestral arrangement as well as a very dreamy guitar solo. Darker and heavier song Flightmare gives Claudia Beltrame the chance to give her vocals a good work out and wow she most certainly does! This is a powerful, jaw-dropping performance that is sure to attract some attention and deserved praise.
Wreckage of a Lifetime is a much faster and more modern metal sounding tune with a nice symphonic undercurrent flowing sweetly throughout. This is a great indication of how the genres are constantly changing and fusing different sounds to create something new and exciting!
There is a traditional almost folk feel to Misconnection with its almost Celtic and angelic chanting vocals. The vocals take precedence over the minimal use of instruments during the opening verses before building up to a thrilling climax. Tiny Box of Horrors begins softly with the sounds of an innocent child’s nursery toy’s before bursting into a full-blown dark and gothic tune. This is Degrees of Truth at full-flow and at their very best. Superb stuff and my favourite track!
Thread of Life is a completely different type of track to all that has gone before. It is a very progressive, laced with futuristic melody and lots of electronics, which form the core of something surprising and totally unexpected.
The proper old school opening to Bound to Rise again leads into another much softer and more Progressive tune that got echoes of the 1970s band Yes running through my mind. The album closes with title track Alchemists, which serves to combine all the different musical threads together into a wonderful cocktail for your listening pleasure. It’s a fantastic and tight band performance where everything just comes together neatly to bring another fabulous musical journey to a finish.
Alchemists is a superb album that I already had on pre-order before getting the opportunity to write this review because I loved the first couple of singles released. Degrees of Truth have delivered on every level and even managed to throw in a couple of tracks that took me completely by surprise, so hats off to them. Highly recommended, so give it a spin!
(4 / 5)
