Avoral
War is not Over
Club Inferno Ent.
2015
Avoral are an Italian quintet that recently came together in Lombardy, that seems to be a place that is brimming with musical tradition, with bands and artists, popping up very often, who play an interesting enough combination of epic power metal with a strong presence, a thundering sound, interesting arrangements and slight thrash elements, not as much as in the music itself, which also tends to also have some folk passages interjecting to the flow, (the whole thing seems to be inspired by fantasy literature etc.) but mostly to the harsh vocal delivery.
Ah the vocals. “Frank” the band’s singer, must possess one of the worst voices I have heard in a while. While in theory vocals that are not too adventurous, in terms of range, should not be too difficult, he has this very throaty, accented and mock-dramatic epic voice, with a quite limited range, that sounds quite excessive and not really great. I can understand what the band are looking for to achieve, but, it’s not really being realized.
It’s otherwise a pity, because over the seven tracks of their debut, Avoral, even if they happen to be a little monotonous, display some decent ideas, have a few epic moments and show some instrumental virtues. However I cannot look past to what makes this album sound a lot inferior than it could and that is the rather poor vocal performance. At times when there are even dubbed dual vocals or effects, the vocals don’t even feel like they harmonize properly, but they cause a bizarre unintended bad, duplicate... in a way that sounds quite weird. Maybe people who are not too critical of vocals (ie people who enjoy more extreme forms) could enjoy them. In their case, I’d either seek a better vocalist or make the vocals completely “harsh”.
Ah the vocals. “Frank” the band’s singer, must possess one of the worst voices I have heard in a while. While in theory vocals that are not too adventurous, in terms of range, should not be too difficult, he has this very throaty, accented and mock-dramatic epic voice, with a quite limited range, that sounds quite excessive and not really great. I can understand what the band are looking for to achieve, but, it’s not really being realized.
It’s otherwise a pity, because over the seven tracks of their debut, Avoral, even if they happen to be a little monotonous, display some decent ideas, have a few epic moments and show some instrumental virtues. However I cannot look past to what makes this album sound a lot inferior than it could and that is the rather poor vocal performance. At times when there are even dubbed dual vocals or effects, the vocals don’t even feel like they harmonize properly, but they cause a bizarre unintended bad, duplicate... in a way that sounds quite weird. Maybe people who are not too critical of vocals (ie people who enjoy more extreme forms) could enjoy them. In their case, I’d either seek a better vocalist or make the vocals completely “harsh”.