Ibridoma - Ibridoma
Hailing from Italy, Ibridoma release their vision of power metal on their self titled record for 2009. After their sneak-peek demo titled Page 26, it just took one year later to release this album, and what fans should expect is a cleaner produced version of the demo with a few repeated songs, plenty of new ones, and plenty of melodic fun. The guitar riffs are very old school and follow the vein of metal bands like Iron Maiden to Heaven And Hell to even Scorpions. Expect plenty of chugging chords mixed with solos and high pitched vocals. The drums are much clearer on the S/T album more than the demo, and expect plenty of compelling stories with each song.
The album opens with some drums before leaping into a melodic guitar riff. Vocals waver and howl away in the usual power metal fashion, often having an echo amongst the guitar solos. It's pretty much a standard power metal track that does justice to the genre. "I'm Not Sorry" is a rougher, more charged up song with longer solos. "Ibrido" slows things down a bit to a mid paced hard rock song, but the energy is still there. "Alone In The Wind" is a take from the Page 26 demo with very few changes to the original; the warbling beginning is about the only new part the song has to offer, along with cleaner production so the drums can be heard clearly. "Jenny" is the first acoustic ballad Ibridoma has to offer, trading heavy and catchy for romantic and emotional vibes. The two "Night" duos are very similar to each other in the way they pick up the pace of the album back up and keep the 'heavy metal' idea up with the music. "Page 26" is yet another rendition from the demo and offers nothing new; it's the same song with no changes. "Lady of Darkness," the supposed great epic, is taken from the band's very first EP. Although the song clocks over thirteen minutes, don't be fooled. After a slow, almost U2 influenced piece, there's a bit of silence before Ibridoma performs a hidden easter egg completely in their native Italian language. It's about as acoustic as "Jenny" but doesn't seem to hold the power that the former track had. Still, it is one of the better and longer easter eggs compared to the brief, nonsensical crap that some bands can leave as a lasting impression.
Ibridoma are certainly worth a listen if anyone is a fan of earlier power or heavy metal providing they won't miss a massive amount of keyboards. While the band doesn't try to create a concept album like many of their counterparts do, the music is still as emotional and still tells a story, even if it's a bunch of different ones that may not have any relation to the others. Their instrumentation displays skill, and they pull from numerous different influences to create their own sound that isn't exactly original, but doesn't sound like a total rip off either.
The album opens with some drums before leaping into a melodic guitar riff. Vocals waver and howl away in the usual power metal fashion, often having an echo amongst the guitar solos. It's pretty much a standard power metal track that does justice to the genre. "I'm Not Sorry" is a rougher, more charged up song with longer solos. "Ibrido" slows things down a bit to a mid paced hard rock song, but the energy is still there. "Alone In The Wind" is a take from the Page 26 demo with very few changes to the original; the warbling beginning is about the only new part the song has to offer, along with cleaner production so the drums can be heard clearly. "Jenny" is the first acoustic ballad Ibridoma has to offer, trading heavy and catchy for romantic and emotional vibes. The two "Night" duos are very similar to each other in the way they pick up the pace of the album back up and keep the 'heavy metal' idea up with the music. "Page 26" is yet another rendition from the demo and offers nothing new; it's the same song with no changes. "Lady of Darkness," the supposed great epic, is taken from the band's very first EP. Although the song clocks over thirteen minutes, don't be fooled. After a slow, almost U2 influenced piece, there's a bit of silence before Ibridoma performs a hidden easter egg completely in their native Italian language. It's about as acoustic as "Jenny" but doesn't seem to hold the power that the former track had. Still, it is one of the better and longer easter eggs compared to the brief, nonsensical crap that some bands can leave as a lasting impression.
Ibridoma are certainly worth a listen if anyone is a fan of earlier power or heavy metal providing they won't miss a massive amount of keyboards. While the band doesn't try to create a concept album like many of their counterparts do, the music is still as emotional and still tells a story, even if it's a bunch of different ones that may not have any relation to the others. Their instrumentation displays skill, and they pull from numerous different influences to create their own sound that isn't exactly original, but doesn't sound like a total rip off either.
- Red
- I'm Not Sorry
- Ibrido
- Alone In The Wind
- Jenny
- Night Falling
- Night Of Crow
- Page 26
- Lady Of Darkness
