Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: ElectroNomicon
Label: No Remorse Records
Release: 2013
Runtime: 43:49
Rating: 4.5/5
Electro_Nomicon are a new power metal outfit stretched across the geographic expanses of Argentina and the USA. So, both American continents. With their original material, the quartet serves up the well-known brand of ultra-melodic receptiveness that the power metal genre has always proudly delivered to the masses. Naturally, loaded to the brim with pomp, aka bombast.
»Unleashing The Shadows« is Electro_Nomicon’s first studio album. The guys ground every last detail into a solid cornerstone for a career, one they can safely build on, riding a wave of creativity and totally unburdened. The compositions on it are a fine showcase of the big musical talents of the Electro_Nomicon trio. The riffs are classic. Classically school-sharpened. And then there’s the vocals of Diego Valdez (also of Haker and Triddana), who, in his vocal color and the way he holds the lead melody in the songs, unmistakably flirts with the look and legacy of that unique rock ‘n’ roll persona, the great »little wizard« Ronnie James Dio. Valdez is an excellent singer and, next to those punchy riffs, the central figure of »Unleashing the Shadows«!
Electro_Nomicon aren’t delivering a musical revolution. They dodge the danger of generic wateriness with a whole lot of heart in everything they take on. The crew has managed to put together a nice palette of songs with distinct characters. From the opening two smashers, The Art Of Destruction and I Believe, which win you over with a gorgeous dialogue between the raw energy of the metal riff and the bombast of the lead melody, to the dark, mid-tempo, Sabbath-style doomy Waiting, where the occult lives and witches chase each other on broomsticks across a sky lit by a full moon, to the excellent instrumental Dark Flight in the middle of the album, where the band masterfully lifts the mood, even slipping in some clever programmed samples, while the track, in which the guitar takes over the role of the vocals, almost turns into the perfect film soundtrack. The album’s closing stretch doesn’t let the high-vibe mood slip either, with all its magnetic electrification. The endlessly doomy Far Away and, above all, Pieces Of A Dream after it take care of that. Not just because of the vocals, but especially because of the riffs. They carry a distant, brotherly whiff of Black Sabbath (in the era without Ozzy), and given the modern production, which creates an effective, proud, sinister possession by the mild traits of extreme thrash metal noisiness, comparisons to Jorn, Masterplan, Dream Evil, Messiah’s Kiss, Tarot, Nightmare, Astral Doors,… aren’t far off. And? What’s missing? Let’s close the circle, then. The band DIO, of course. Through the face of Electro_Nomicon there also glimmers a sense of melodic aesthetics inherited from the strictly early work of American bands like Queensryche and/or Fates Warning. Apparently that’s an indispensable ingredient in American power metal, even though Electro_Nomicon will win more fans with their debut in Europe (especially in Germany and Scandinavia) and in Asia, in Japan, than they ever will in the USA.
This is power metal that knows nothing of sappiness or sugarcoating. No dragons fly here, and there’s nothing fairy-tale about it that would call for waving swords around and kissing frogs. Occult and superstition live here. And that suits the dark, dramatic theater of the album extremely well, which comes superbly outfitted with bombastic, melodic catchiness. The latter hits you at every step of this exceptionally listenable release, whose crumbling energy snaps every hair on your body to attention in an instant.
With their debut, Electro_Nomion delivered exactly what a band fighting its way onto the scene needs. An extremely convincing musical document that, in its sheer strength of character, embodies the band’s incredible faith in and devotion to the cause. As said. Heart beats everything. Power metal fans, you’ll be thrilled. »Unleashing the Shadows« is an album that knows no naivety! It feels real and, as said, hypnotically ravenous! A debut the band can be very proud of.
Lineup
Diego Valdez – vocals, backing vocals
Juan Jose Fornes – guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
Owen Bryant – drums
Production
Juan Jose Fornes & Electronomicon
Tracklist
1. The Art of Destruction 03:56
2. I Believe (04:16)
3. Waiting (06:05)
4. Do You Remember (04:30)
5. Take Me (03:50)
6. Dark Flight (03:47)
7. You Are in Shadows (03:43)
8. New Beginning Day (03:35)
9. Far Away (05:19)
10. Pieces of a Dream 04:18)
