Italy has long been known for making the fine things in life even finer, cars, food, fashion, the list goes on. Now , thanks to Ibridoma, Power Metal can be added to that list. From the opening "Sadness Comes" The band makes a promise of heavy riffing ahead, and when Christian Bartolacci blazes in with his vocals, it becomes apparent that promise is bold and large. Sounding like an Italian banshee, his heavily accented vocals are stunningly effective, using his accent to highlight the rhymthic pace of the lyrics. The songs are short, between three and four minutes, but packed with well thought out hooks and grooves, and you never end a song thinking that was just haphazardly thrown together. In fact on songs like "Di Nuovo Inverno" and the CD's title track "City of Ruins" i found myself wondering how they got so much in such a short time. Smooth transitions between timing and key changes emerge effortlessly, keeping your interest.

The guitar interaction between Sebatino Ciccale and Marco Vitali is fluid, powerful and very natural, made all the more easier by the brilliant interaction between  bassist Leonardo Ciccarelli and drummer Alessandro Morroni.This is exposed, in my opinion on the song "Terminator". The solo's are near perfection, never overbearing or show stealing. And the sound, OH  MY GOD THE SOUND! Crisp, clear, not a un-needed effect to be seen, guitars heavier than hell. Perfect bass sound, drums miked to the the quality level of Peart (yes, I said that). Just to show off their production skills they threw in a nice vocal exercise at the end called "I'm Broken" After the week I just had, battling the flu and associated maladies, this album was a great relief, because it made reviewing it such a pleasure. Now on the top of my list so far for 2018, IBRODOMA's "City of Ruins" should be the next one on your list!