Thy Majestie – Dawn

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Dark Balance
Produced by Thy Majestie

Now down to one original member (drummer Claudio Diprima) one of Italy’s biggest metal exports have produced their fourth album roughly three years after the last one, Jeanne d’Arc.

Various line-up changes have taken place over the last three years, but most recently the band has had to rebuild when they lost founding keyboard player Giuseppe Bondi, original guitarist Giovanni Santini and original vocalist (for a second time) Dario Grillo.

All have been replaced and, despite the unfortunate cancellation of their UK debut at ProgPower UK III (the festival was cancelled due to poor ticket sales) and the departure of another original guitar player, Maurizio Malta, among this year’s disappointments, they have signed a new record deal with Dark Balance after three albums via Italy’s Scarlet Records, and produced their darkest record to date. The album is structured in three chapters, the songs of each flowing seamlessly into each other. The album don’t really tell a story, but the chaptering gives it a sense of purpose from start to finish, dividing it neatly into movements.

Chapter one, cryptically titled ‘Trapasso – Exequies of The Formal Sphere’, comprises the first four songs of the album, from opener As You Fall to The Hunt. These are modest-length songs, with the incredible instrumental title track, which lay-out perfectly exactly where Thy Majestie are going with this new album. And that is away from the bright and over-symphonic Rhapsody style of the first three albums towards a darker more Kamelot sounding direction.

And new vocalist Dario Cascio’s Roy Kahn-esque voices suits this new direction perfectly, around unbelievable guitar soloing from Simone Campione and keyboard runs by Valerio Castorino. These outstanding performances continue in chapter two, ‘Rovina – The Neverending Night’, which centres mostly around the ambitious ‘Legacy Suite’ from Of Pain And Disgrace to The Legacy, and ends with free-standing Out The Edge. This chapter alternates between instrumentals and full songs, each of the instrumentals being as complex and demanding as Dawn, linking the main songs neatly and Cascio’s vocals on these tracks are even more impressive than those on the first chapter.

Finally chapter three, ‘Vendetta – A New Dawn’, is just two songs long. Day of The Changes and Through Heat And Fire are both similar in style to the three full songs in chapter one, and continue all the positive traits of the revitalised Thy Majestie sound already discussed. Despite major upheaval the band have come through sounding stronger than ever, so hopefully this new line-up can stay together for some time and they can start to establish themselves on the live circuit.

“ complex and demanding ”

Tracklist: As You Fall / M.A.D. / Dawn / The Hunt / Of Pain And Disgrace / To An Endless Devotion / Infernis Armata / Two Minutes of Hate / The Legacy / Out The Edge / Day of The Changes / Through Heat And Fire

Written by Andy Lye
More: Albums, Power Metal, Progressive, Thy Majestie