Arachnes "A New Day" - Reviewed By Metal Crypt ! Check it out here at this link: https://www.metalcrypt.com/pages/review.php?revid=12768
Arachnes is a Progressive/Power Metal band out of Italy that formed in 1995 after the Caruso brothers (Frank and Enzo) called it quits on their Hard Rock project, Firehouse (No, not THAT Firehouse).
This release is odd as it is not a new album per se. They originally released the album in 2011 and is now getting a re-release here in 2021. I don't know if anything has changed from that original release as I never heard it. That being said, I will just go with what I have here. This is exactly what you would expect from a Prog/Power band from Italy. I find it to be way more Prog than Power overall. It has every ingredient that you would need for a Progressive Metal album. Better than average vocals, excellent guitar and keyboard work that does an outstanding job of trading off solos between the two and finally the drum work that ties everything together. The production is passable but sounds flat on the heavier songs. The production being passable is a how I feel about the whole album. It's passable. There isn't anything here that will make you stand up and really take notice. There are definitely some moments here and there that stand out while you are listening to the album, but when the album is over, you would be hard pressed to recall them. This is a bit of a problem with this genre in general. It is hard to really stand out. Most bands in this genre have all the ingredients I listed above that are required for a Prog Metal album, so in the end it comes down to how memorable the songs are. Killer guitar and keyboard solos can only take you so far and when the songs feel like they are vehicles to get to that guitar and keyboard solo, the song itself seems to suffer or at the very least, making it difficult to recall the song itself. These guys are undeniably talented musicians, but in this genre you need more than that.
I'll use a cooking metaphor for an explanation. Overall, if you have every ingredient to make an amazing pasta sauce but you use subpar pasta, the meal just won't be as good as it could be. If you are a fan of the genre, by all means, give it a listen. Especially the instrumental track, "Your Death" which is hands down the best track on the album. Who knows, you might get more out of this than I did. - Metal Crypt
Arachnes "A New Day"
Power/Progressive Metal from Italy.
Released on May 7th, 2021 by Music for the Masses [re-release of 2011 album]
Music influenced by groups like Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Queen, Van Halen, Rainbow, Whitesnake, Malmsteen, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Jethro Tull and Yes , as well as jazz player Miles Davis and classical composers Bach, Chopin and Stravinskij
Track listing:
1 Psychedelic Trip (Intro)
2 I Know the Darkness
3 Big Hearth
4 I'm Sorry
5 Into the Fog
6 Magic World
7 My Face Is Hard
8 Running in an Old Town
9 Take Your Life
10 Parallel Worlds (orchestral version)
11 The Reason of the Things
12 Your Death
13 Fireball (Deep Purple cover)
14 First Of All (bonus track)
On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the original release, Music for the Masses Records releases for the first time on cd the album A NEW DAY by the veterans Prog Power Metallers ARACHNES with a Bonus Track
Pre-order "A New Day" - https://www.musicforthemassesrecords.com/product-page/arachnes-a-new-day-cd-digipak-anniversary-edt
The band was formed in 1995, when the Caruso brothers (singer Enzo Caruso and guitarist Frank Caruso) decided not to continue with their Hard rock project with Firehouse to form a new band with different musical influences from groups like Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Queen, Van Halen, Rainbow, Whitesnake, Malmsteen, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Jethro Tull and Yes, as well as jazz player Miles Davis and classical composers Bach, Chopin and Stravinskij. A New Day is the seventh studio album by the Italian progressive band Arachnes, released in 2011 only in digital form, the album upon release, got over 40 reviews with ratings from 8 to 10 from reviewers
BIO:
The band ARACHNES formed back around 1995 when Caruso brothers (Enzo / Vocals and Frank / Guitars) decided to stop their hard-rock project Firehouse in order to give up a brand new musical-concept with lots of different influences and more oriented to the virtuoso-approach of guitars and arrangements. Under an always enlighted inspiration, the Caruso Brothers developed the ‘perfect ARACHNES sound’ that takes life from an incredibly wide range of influences: Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Queen, Van Halen, Toto, Rainbow, Whitesnake, Yj Malmsteen, ELP, Jethro Tull, Yes, Miles Davis, Bach, Chopin, Stravinskij, Bartok just to name a few. All these different vibes are what we usually call a refined and open-minded background, a logic start into a modern and completely personal ‘heavy metal’ dimension. The heavy-roots to the modern technologies ARACHNES always take both power and melody and combine these 2 different sides in order to achieve the biggest impact. The first step in their career was the debut album ‘The Goddess Temple’ released through the Italian label Lucretia Records (1997) followed by the mini-CD ‘Metamorphosis’ on Underground Symphony perfectly illustrated by the finest Spanish artwork maker Luis Royo. The best way to describe these 2 first releases is ‘progressive-metal’ even if the guitar approach is always on the first level and marks ARACHNES style with a romantic-neoclassical feeling (most respected Frank influence is without doubt Mr. Blackmore!).
After the release of the ‘Metamorphosis’ mini-CD the band had a break and changed the line-up few times. New bass and drum players were added and started to search a new record-label to get more exposure especially outside Italy. Arachnes signed a deal with Scarlet and started the working process for ‘Parallel Worlds’. This is the beginning of the ‘music-style evolution/revolution’, building up more direct songs with lots of great power-speed riffing and an additional epic feeling, provided by choirs and orchestral hints. Especially the guitar of Frank Caruso moves between neo-classical and jazz influences, giving to ARACHNES something unique and far from the standards. ‘Parallel Worlds’ got excellent reviews around the world and for ARACHNES was the real breakthrough. Arachnes is not the ‘usual’ power-speed metal from Italy!
Arachnes has something more to offer! The 3rd album ‘Apocalypse’ was the first musical ‘concept’ written by the band. The sound was even more mature and offered the same crystal technique both in melody and aggression. Caruso brothers followed the artistical production themselves. They recorded and mixed the album proving to be one of the finest musicians from Italy. ‘Apocalypse’ got enthusiastic feedback also in Japan where the top-metal label AVALON/MARQUEE released the album with a bonus track titled ‘Epilogue’. With this album ARACHNES got the best results in reviews and sales and after the release, for the first time writers of various mags started to compare other minor bands to ARACHNES in style and sound. That means that ARACHNES got a definite trade-mark in their sound! But now it's time for the 4th album 'PRIMARY FEAR'!
The result is what a label should ask to a band playing mature melodic power-speed metal with symphonic and progressive influence! 'Primary Fear' is the best ARACHNES album, with an incredible feeling and the most intense approach ever. Songs are full of power and aggressive guitars, vocal lines are, as always, superb and extraordinary guitar solos. 'Primary Fear' features 2 real pearls: 'Tota Pulchra' a song recorded in a church with a real church- organ and composed by the Maestro F.Castelli and a cover song of 'Eruption' taken from the prog-rock masterpiece 'Tarkus' by E.L.P. Again the Japanse version will feature a bonus track and will be released by Marquee/Avalon. In 2006 the new release of Arachnes, 6th studio-album, In Praise Of Science, already described by Caruso brothers as another big step forward in order to combine hard rock and progressive edges with brilliant symphonic atmospheres.
The heavy-roots to the modern technologies ARACHNES always take both power and melody and combine these 2 different sides in order to achieve the biggest impact. In 2008 Frank started with the new solo project STRINGS 24 and publish two album with the band: the first album STRINGS 24 for Lion music (2009) and the new album SPEAK for Videoradio/SELF (2011). In 2011 ARACHNES published the new album A NEW DAY with the European top label LION MUSIC. The album is available on Itunes and the major digital store. It‘s also available a physical copy of the cd in limited edition on globalsoundnet.com or on guitar9.com for USA.
Follow the band at these links:
https://www.musicforthemassesrecords.com/
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