OPERA NERA is an Italian Heavy Metal band that has roots back to 2015. With a combination of melodic songs and gritty vocals, they stick mostly to a more mainstream style of metal, not venturing too far from the roots of '70s and '80s influences. There is a bit of progressive metal, but more straight forward, almost blues influenced metal than anything else. Their album "Land of Salvation" was independently released on July 7, 2021.

With only six songs on the record, there is not much time for the band to impress the listener. To do this, they start with a nice, heavy riff in "Feeding the Wolves." This is an almost BLACK SABBATH-esque tune with some really nice guitar work, especially some of the fills heard throughout the song. The vocals are nothing like any SABBATH singer, but the riffs are classic metal through and through. The use of two channels to vary the sound from side to side is also a cool little throwback to yesteryear.

"Wrong" is next. The drums and bass sync up really well and really drive the rhythm for this song. The guitars are still cool, but the rhythm catches me more on this song. The variable tempos are catchy and work well together. This is a bit of the prog feel you might anticipate from a band with Opera in the name. The guitar solo gets just a bit disjointed in the middle, but still fits into the song pretty well.

Next is the slower song, "In the Salvation Land Of Her Breast." The middle section is pretty catchy, the drums are more intricate throughout this song. It's more progressive attitude to follow on from "Wrong.". Then we get "Save Me." This is a bit of a sludge metal tune. The tempo is slower to start and feels darker. Less grit and more pain in the vocals. Here is where we get more of the range of Tiziano Spigno on display. He hasn't been hiding it, he just shows it better here. This is an early favorite. The guitar tones are primo.

"Suburbia Messiah" is a back to a harder sound. I kind of prefer their harder edged songs for the most part. The final track, "Trees," is back to the milder side. It has more angst than some of the other slower songs, so almost splits the difference in styles for the slower sections. The middle area, where they turn up the attitude, really rocks. The bass player is a little more out front and the drummer is nice and active. The guitar solo really plays well into this song. For overall content, this is my go-to song.

OPERA NERA are an interesting band. They are hard to peg. I hear classic metal, NWOBHM, prog and even a little doom/stoner metal in there as well. The mix works well at times, not as great in others. All of it is good and shows a lot of promise. It will be interesting to see how their sound matures as they move forward and create their own niche. This is a good record and has some excellent moments. The future should be bright for these guys.