VEXILLUM – Unum (2015)

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Released today, “Unum” is the third full length album from Italian metal band VEXILLUM and the first approach to them by me. It certainly piqued my interest for this record the inclusion of some renowned vocalists: Chris Bay (Freedom Call), very good female singer Maxi Nil (Jaded Star, ex Visions of Atlantis), Hansi Kürsch (Blind Guardian), and the great Mark Boals (Malmsteen, Ring of Fire, Iron Mask).

The name of the band provides some hints of what to expect here; ‘Vexillum’ refers to flag banner that the Roman army carried in ancient times. Yes, Vexillum plays a mixture of power metal with some epics.
But they mix their strong metal riffs with folk ingredients, Celtic and Nordic, and wear Scottish kilts when they perform. This isn’t novel either as there are many other bands doing the same, yet in the case of Vexillum it works very well.
In fact, they sound darn good.

“Unum” is a concept album, where lead singer Dario Vallesi is principal character in a medieval tale, accompanied through his quest by stellar vocalists that are Hansi Kursch (Blind Guardian) as ‘The Sentenced’, Chris Bay (Freedom Call) playing ‘The Jester’, Maxi Nil (Jaded Star) as the ‘Lady Thief’, and Mark Boals (Malmsteen, Iron Mask, Ring of Fire) acting like “The Hermit”.
All these seasoned shouters add a truly colorful texture to the album, helped by the short running time of each song which can be enjoyed separately instead of the concept.

Musically, Vexillum add some bagpipes, lute and acoustic guitars, but mostly on the intros, the whole ‘folk’ thing is neither mere accent or overwhelming indulgent.
The style here, as said, is basically melodic power metal with an ‘easy’ approach, and surprisingly entertaining. Vexillum makes it work without sounding contrived.
And it really helps keeping the story short: 7 songs in 38 minutes. To ‘complete’ the CD, Vexillum add two songs, both covers.
One is from an unknown band to me; Tazenda, and the song is a fine stomper, while the other is a crazy take on Slade’s classic “Run Runaway” done in a very, very fun epic / folk / medieval way.

Vexillum are very, very good at what they do and I warmed to their music very quickly indeed. As the trend of the moment, their sound is not overly heavy, catchy at places, polished and always melodic. There’s cool choruses, nice keyboards, and solid good vocal performances of all involved.
And they have the ‘medieval folk’ touch. It seems a lot of folk metal bands are content to play a bunch of woodwinds and other quirky things and just let the guitars plod mindlessly in the background. Thankfully Vexillum are not like that at all, as the guitar work is the high point on this album. Riffs, leads, solos, they’re all here in good amounts and quality.

Vexillum might be another band in a long line of melodic metal / Euro power acts who wants a headliner slot in the genre, and if they keep on making albums entertaining and as good as this “Unum” that day might not be to far away.

01 – The Departure; Blow Away The Ashes
02 – The Jester; Over The Clouds (Feat. Chris Bay)
03 – The Sentenced; Fire And Blood (Feat. Hansi Kursch)
04 – Lady Thief; What We Are (Feat. Maxi Nil)
05 – The Hermit; Through The Mirror (Feat. Mark Boals)
06 – The Way Back; The Clash Within
07 – The True Beginning; Standing As One
08 – Spunta La Luna Dal Monte (Tazenda cover)
09 – Run Runaway (Slade cover)

Dario Vallesi – Vocals
Michele Gasparri – Guitars, Backing Vocals
Francesco Ferraro – Bass
Efisio Pregio – Drums

Mark Boals – Vocals
Hansi Kursch – Vocals
Chris Bay – Vocals
Maxi Nil – Vocals

BUY IT !
www.grooves-inc.com/vexillum-unum-limb-music-cd-album-pZZa1-1899362060.html
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