Minotauro – Apocalyptic Sense
25th October 2017MINOTAURO are a European Power Metal group with members hailing from Italy, Slovenia and Croatia and have released their 2nd album ‘Apocalyptic Sense’ via 7Hard Records (debut release for the label) on 13th October 2017.
So 4 years after the release of their debut album “Master Of The Sea” MINOTAURO have blessed us with a new album.
So was it worth the wait?
Will the album be all killer and no filler?
Maybe all filler and no killer, or a mix of the two?
Are they a new band to be rabidly checked out by metal heads?
I will answer all of the above after I press play on my MP3 playing device (with no sponsorship deal in place I will not name drop the products I use, unless said company want to sponsor me!!!) and have given the album the standard three plus listens I do to every album I review.
On first listen I actually kinda like the power metal vibe MINOTAURO are giving, some of the songs are quite enjoyable. However after the next few listens the little annoyances start to creep in! Such as how the vocalist tries so hard in vain to imitate Bruce Dickinson in parts. However he just doesn’t have the range or sound and it actual starts to grate on you, it makes MINOTAURO sound like an IRON MAIDEN tribute band. The vocalist is better when he just lets it flow naturally and he actually has more in common with Rob Halford and his range. Also although the drummer is very competent, as is required for a good Power Metal band, I don’t think the drums need to be so high in the mix though! They do take away from some of the riffs, although they are occasionally lowered when the guitarists let fly with the solos.
Also the keyboards are used sparingly and add to the overall sound instead of over powering every instrument, although they do take more of a lead on the song “Braindigger” and get showcased more on the latter half of the album and each song seems to have a section for them to shine.
MINOTARUO have released an album that is part filler and has some enjoyable songs, especially in the second half of the album, although they aren’t really any killer tracks. For future releases they need to reign in the drums as they do overpower everything and it can be a little annoying when drumming is the main focus due to being so high in the mix! Finally if the vocalist just dropped the Bruce Dickinson hero-worship and sang more naturally it will make the songs more enjoyable. If you are a Power Metal enthusiast then you’ll probably enjoy this album more than the average metal fan and it’ll probably be better than some of the “Power Metal” by numbers you might already have in your collection. Although to be fair on some tracks it does sound like MINOTAURO are just going through the Power Metal playbook page by page.
SCORE – 6
Track Listing
1. Landless Soldiers
2. Fields of Symphobia
3. Seven
4. All Seeing Eye
5. Braindigger
6. Apocalyptic Sense
7. Son of a Witch
8. Graveyard Symphony
9. Easy Living
Label: 7Hard Records
Release Date: 13th October 2017
