Alchem — Viaggio Al Centro Della Terra

Female fronted Italian Gothic Prog Metal band Alchem hail from Rome/Lazio. They were formed in 2000 from the ashes of Acidaluna, a band originally put together by the duo of guitarist Pierpaolo Capuano, and vocalist Annalisa Belli. The current lineup is augmented by Luca Minotti on bass guitar and programming. Viaggio Al Centro Della Terra (Journey to the Centre of the Earth) is only the band’s second full-length album, however, they have also released an EP and there is a compilation CD that rounds out the band’s discography.

The album gets under way with the track "Behind the Door", and after an ambient intro comprised of storm noise and wolf howls the track begins to take shape. This one features some lovely jazz style bass playing, and some effortless sounding guitar, which gives it a fairly laid-back vibe. Annalisa Belli’s voice owes a huge debt to first-generation romantic Gothic rock like All About Eve more than it does to the modern equivalent. Overall this is a lovely relaxed opener. "Spirit of the Air" features some lovely melancholy guitar work, but once the drums kick in the track moves up a gear into more familiar prog/metal territory. Heavier than the opener, Spirit of the Air is a good solid track that keeps the album moving along at a steady pace. "Il Canto Delle Sirene" opens with a bass riff that is reminiscent of early Cure, before a heavy guitar track kicks in and changes the track’s complexion completely. Once the vocals enter the fray, things settle down a little once again, but the music picks up again during the track’s instrumental sections. An interesting track that juxtaposes heavier guitar-based rock with ethereal vocals. In My Breath then takes us back down again, the delicate ballad builds slowly towards its climax.

The second half of the album kicks off with the title track, a largely instrumental tour de force of progressive metal, that is obviously influenced by the likes of Dream Theater. At over 8.30 this is one of the longer tracks on the album, featuring only a few vocal mantras towards the end. "I Don’t Belong Here" is not too dissimilar to the earlier "In My Breath", whilst "Butterflies Are Singing" starts with the sound of fluttering wings before Annalisa’s beautiful ethereal vocals take centre stage. The track also features some notable performances from the band on the whole. Armor of Ice is very much the album’s arse kicking metal number. An up-tempo riff laden track that stands out for its change of style and pace, showing a different side to the band’s sound, which is not a bad thing. "Fragments of Stars" returns us to more familiar territory as it heads back into more romantic sounding All About Eve-esque Gothic Rock. This is one of my personal favourites on the album. Pioggia D’Agosto is the album’s closer, nine and half minutes of prog metal madness, packed full of different time signatures and more riffs than you can shake a stick at. It picks up where Armor of Ice left off and keeps going. An epic very much in the style of Dream Theater.

Overall, the album is a reasonably enjoyable listen, the musicianship is of a high standard and Annalisa’s voice has that beautiful ethereal quality that Julianne Regan was famous for. On the down side, the production feels like it could have been better, and I do think improved production could have lifted the album up to the next level. Either way this is a promising record, from a group of top-class musicians who are still in the early stages of their career.