Alterium – Of War and Flames | soundsfromthedarkside

Italy’s newest star on the power metal firmament, Alterium, has just dropped their first album after months of teasing. Let’s check it out.

After a long, cold, and dark winter we are finally headed for brighter days. As the weather changes, so does my musical preference, at least at first. Brighter days call for brighter music, and fun, upbeat and uplifting power metal will always be my jam when that happens. So, what better time than this for Italy’s Alterium to drop their debut album Of War and Flames? None, I tell you.

Born from the ashes of Kalidia, Alterium is a new power metal ensemble in AFM Records’ roster, and Of War and Flames very much a continuation and further perfection of what came before. Six of the album’s ten songs have already been released as singles over the past year, so anyone who has followed the band throughout 2023 will be mostly familiar with what’s on offer here. The band, fronted by Nicoletta Rosellini, weaves tales of high adventure, fantasy and pirates, and wraps those tales into ten highly enjoyable metal tracks, including the Sabaton cover song Bismarck.

Songs like Drag Me to Hell and Of War and Flames have been continuously creeping back into my weekly playlists and they still sound fresh and fun in the context of the album. Fun being the operative word, Alterium plays a very infectious form of power metal, most of them sporting big, memorable choruses of the type that will want you to raise a tankard of ale to the skies in a rowdy pub and sing along, with Crossroads Inn and Heroine of the Sea being the best examples of this. Although the whole band is on fire, Rosellini is the star of the show here, bringing the lyrics with conviction. She possesses a very pleasant and rich voice that never sound strained or over the top. She knows where her vocal strengths lie and utilizes them to maximum effect.

Of War and Flames flows extremely well, with the songs effortlessly weaving into each other. The album opens with the speedy one-two punch of Drag Me to Hell and Siren’s Call, doing a great job at drawing you in. Firebringer alternates deftly between speedy verses and a cool mid-tempo, singalong chorus. Crafting great, memorable melodies is something Alterium excels in anyway, grabbing and holding your attention with catchy hooks, melodic riffing and memorable choruses. Songs like the sea shanty-like Crossroads Inn or the very pretty power ballad Crystalline will definitely ingrain themselves in your brain. Icing on the melodic metal cake is Bismarck, a Sabaton cover that fits Alterium’s style like a glove.

At forty-two minutes, there is on excess fat on Of War and Flames, resulting in an accomplished, concise album that’s all killer, no filler. As debut albums go, this is as good as they get and will hopefully do wonders for the band’s career. I’ve been having the first six singles on repeat for weeks on end and it’s good to finally be able to hear the rest of the tracks. Fans of melodic, female fronted power metal would do good checking this one out post-haste, I promise you will not be disappointed.

Label: AFM Records

Buy it here: https://shop.afm-records.de/Alterium/

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