DEATHLESS LEGACY are a brand new, 'horror' Metal band from Italy and, I find, are not strictly comparable to anything I've ever heard. Their debut album touches on a wide range of scary subjects - ranging from ghosts to the disgustingly taboo. I would begin by exclaiming how much of a turnoff that may be for some people; where one of the songs is concerned, I am one of those people. Regardless, as an album, its concept is surprisingly innovative and its arrangements are unpredictable and terrifying.

"Will-o'-the Wisp", unfortunately, did not send the album off on a good start. At least, not when the vocals kicked off. It started very much akin to CRADLE OF FILTH; the keyboards and riffs make for a perfect Gothic Metal track. However, the vocals found here are nothing like what is found on the rest of the album. I feel as if the vocalist intended on making the lyrics sound strained and choked; for some people. This works. Here, I don't feel like it did; more cliché than anything. Luckily, "Bow to the Porcellan Altar" is a much more pleasant track with more interesting riff ideas. The vocals see a much needed improvement, and Steva seems most able to pull off powerful and wailing Heavy Metal vocals when she wants to. In fact, her vocals in this track are one of the things I liked most about this record.

From then on, the album only gets better. "Spiders" is one of the more adventurous tracks and is an effective, twisted melding of gothic, doom and alternative. Steva's vocals have come into their own, and they have a creepy-sounding catchiness about them; dare I use the word seductive? From song to song, this band seems to evolve multiple times in a single album; I can't quite put my finger on it, but "Step Into the Mist" is a far cry from the strained opening track. At the very least, it is lyrically (and musically) more accessible than the majority of the record, with some parts more reminiscent of classic heavy metal; DORO anyone?

Where the genre's fans are concerned, I can see it going down well, with a blast even. But unfortunately, the way a couple of the songs came out in the end, one of them due to, shall we say, an eccentric creativity pool, I feel the experience of the album may be somewhat tarnished for other listeners; myself included.