That's a funny thing. It's not easy when you have to rate an album with significant + and - all over. It seems not that fair, yet is fair the proper word for a review? Confused, huh? I was also confused, trying to find out what was written in the CD inlay. Italian is not my strongest point, I have to say - hope I've written the musicians' names correctly...
Italy's Walkyrya was given birth in 1999 due to the quest of Vincent Santopientro and Donato Gallichio. Anthony Colicelli and Vincent Ottaviano also joined the band a little bit later. The band must be famous enough in some specific parts of Italy - if I got that right - but I don't know if they have released anything else except for the same titled CD album I got in my hands. They're also now working on some new material - a two tracked promo was also attached - said to be featuring ex-Vanadium (THE Vanadium???) frontman Pino Scotto. OK with the bio, on to the core:
The band presents a set of nine songs, including an intro and an outro, in a nicely packed CD case. The vibe of this effort clearly depicts an Italian band with a wide variety of influences. There are acoustic guitars in there, mid-tempo double bass drumming rhythms, stiff Thrash-isque chords, travelling harmonies and a crystal clear good mood to transform lots of ideas, feelings and experience into music and lyrics. I also think these guys probably like Death SS...
Still, I think Walkyrya has a lot of things to improve, starting from the production. It's sad to see that in the year 2005 a band does not take advantage of the endless help of technology and/or producers. Everything seems too flat, a pity for strong ideas to be buried in an average (minus) sound. In addition, the (usual) problem of non-English/U.S. vocalists is obvious: the accent... I loved Metal Bull, though!
Same goes for the band's two tracked promo CD, even if the songs look even better - The Banished Story can prove to be a killer! - through the ears of an experienced listener. That's the big thrill: you don't seek selling your spirit to 30 year old Metal fans only. The main target lies at lower ages.
I'm looking forward - and I mean it - to Walkyrya's next full length release. I'm not displeased; I just feel the whole effort stands non-full. The message exists but it's a little bit fuzzy, so I'll try to decode it next time. For the time being...