Dragonheart Records
2012
1. Hunted Down
2. Bottled Mind
3. Red Devil
4. Lost Alone
5. Under This Flag
6. A.O.D.
7. Prisoners Of War
8. War After War
9. Nightmares
10. Freedom's Not Here
11. You Choose
12. Redemption
When it comes to White Skull there are some parallels to Fates Warning for me... no pun intended. Both were bands who's early material I totally loved and both went south for me when they lost a very distinctive sounding vocalist. There aren't that many vocalists I'd consider totally irreplaceable, but two of them are John Arch and Federica De Boni. Both are unmistakable and just bring a different vibe to the music they sing. Both also tend to be love or hate. Count me in the love category on these two.
White Skull are certainly a more under the radar band than Fates Warning, but you get the drift. This band and this vocalist were big for me and when Federica went, my interest in the band waned. Now imagine my surprise when I looked up this new album and discovered who was back in the band. Suddenly, my interest was renewed. Could it be that this former favorite would sound whole again?
After listening to Under This Flag I can safely say the band is back and it is grand. Listening to this release I couldn't even wipe the smile off my face. Federica sounds perfect and the songs are catchy and powerful from the start. It's like that one vital piece was restored and everything else fell back into place as Federica just brings back the voice, identity, and presence of a strong frontperson that was sorely missing. Her gruff yet melodic voice soars through this album and makes everything once again sound epic and heavy. I've gotta say that for a woman, Federica De Boni sounds like she has more balls than a great deal of male power vocalists. Don't expect your typical female fronted metal. Some musical comparisons that come to mind for me are Dark Moor back when they had Elisa C. Martin (though a bit more direct/less happy), Warlock, and Grave Digger circa Excalibur.
In terms of songs, everything just seems to hit home with a perfect blend of cutting guitar, vocal power, and epic flair. You have plenty of burners like Under This Flag and Hunted Down which blaze to epic choruses, but the album offers some nice changes of pace as well. A couple of change of pace stand outs include Red Devil which is a more paced anthem and A.O.D. which shows off some of Federica's versatility in being able to sound more clean, melodic, and atmospheric when she wants to. A nice ballad for sure and tracks like these keep things from becoming too predictable in formula.
Overall, Under This Flag comes pretty close to everything I want from a straight up power metal album. This is one of those reviews where choosing highlights is like picking between children. The material here just seems to ride that perfect line where the songs sound epic and powerful while remaining heavy and never getting Too overblown or happy. The material here may not be wrapped up in grand concepts like Tales From The North's or Public Glory, Secret Agony's stories of vikings and rome, but that does not stop things from sounding majestic and powerful.
What more can I say but this album has already secured a special place in my metal collection. Listening to this reminds me of when I was back in high school and this band was something of an under the radar/underrated favorite of mine. What White Skull have managed to do here is become that again and completely reignite my interest in the band. Federica De Boni... you have been missed. Just like John Arch did last year, you have taken me on sort of a journey back in time and it was a kick ass ride.
Highlights: Red Devil, Under This Flag, Prisoners Of War, Hunted Down, War After War
Rating - 4.5/5
2. Bottled Mind
3. Red Devil
4. Lost Alone
5. Under This Flag
6. A.O.D.
7. Prisoners Of War
8. War After War
9. Nightmares
10. Freedom's Not Here
11. You Choose
12. Redemption
When it comes to White Skull there are some parallels to Fates Warning for me... no pun intended. Both were bands who's early material I totally loved and both went south for me when they lost a very distinctive sounding vocalist. There aren't that many vocalists I'd consider totally irreplaceable, but two of them are John Arch and Federica De Boni. Both are unmistakable and just bring a different vibe to the music they sing. Both also tend to be love or hate. Count me in the love category on these two.
White Skull are certainly a more under the radar band than Fates Warning, but you get the drift. This band and this vocalist were big for me and when Federica went, my interest in the band waned. Now imagine my surprise when I looked up this new album and discovered who was back in the band. Suddenly, my interest was renewed. Could it be that this former favorite would sound whole again?
After listening to Under This Flag I can safely say the band is back and it is grand. Listening to this release I couldn't even wipe the smile off my face. Federica sounds perfect and the songs are catchy and powerful from the start. It's like that one vital piece was restored and everything else fell back into place as Federica just brings back the voice, identity, and presence of a strong frontperson that was sorely missing. Her gruff yet melodic voice soars through this album and makes everything once again sound epic and heavy. I've gotta say that for a woman, Federica De Boni sounds like she has more balls than a great deal of male power vocalists. Don't expect your typical female fronted metal. Some musical comparisons that come to mind for me are Dark Moor back when they had Elisa C. Martin (though a bit more direct/less happy), Warlock, and Grave Digger circa Excalibur.
In terms of songs, everything just seems to hit home with a perfect blend of cutting guitar, vocal power, and epic flair. You have plenty of burners like Under This Flag and Hunted Down which blaze to epic choruses, but the album offers some nice changes of pace as well. A couple of change of pace stand outs include Red Devil which is a more paced anthem and A.O.D. which shows off some of Federica's versatility in being able to sound more clean, melodic, and atmospheric when she wants to. A nice ballad for sure and tracks like these keep things from becoming too predictable in formula.
Overall, Under This Flag comes pretty close to everything I want from a straight up power metal album. This is one of those reviews where choosing highlights is like picking between children. The material here just seems to ride that perfect line where the songs sound epic and powerful while remaining heavy and never getting Too overblown or happy. The material here may not be wrapped up in grand concepts like Tales From The North's or Public Glory, Secret Agony's stories of vikings and rome, but that does not stop things from sounding majestic and powerful.
What more can I say but this album has already secured a special place in my metal collection. Listening to this reminds me of when I was back in high school and this band was something of an under the radar/underrated favorite of mine. What White Skull have managed to do here is become that again and completely reignite my interest in the band. Federica De Boni... you have been missed. Just like John Arch did last year, you have taken me on sort of a journey back in time and it was a kick ass ride.
Highlights: Red Devil, Under This Flag, Prisoners Of War, Hunted Down, War After War
Rating - 4.5/5
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