Overtures - Artifacts

Artist: Overtures
Release Title: Artifacts
Year: 2016
Label: Sleaszy Rider Records
Genre: Melodic Heavy Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Repentance
2. Artifacts
3. Gold
4. As Candles We Burn
5. Profiled
6. Unshared Worlds
7. My Refuge
8. New Dawn, New Dusk
9. Teardrop
10. Angry Animals
11. Savior

Having formed in 2003, Italian melodic metallers Overtures has steadily built a solid reputation of utilizing a series of powerful melodies with churning heavy metal prowess. Having reverted to a four-piece now with the loss of second-guitarist Adriano Crasnich, the group prepares it’s fourth full-length released May 27, 2016 on Sleaszy Rider Records.

Clearly having been around a while, the band is clearly a competent and professional act that manages to get quite a lot right here which is highly enjoyable. Starting with the riff-work, there’s plenty to like about the way this shifts so effortlessly from tight, deep chugging to galloping, mid-tempo rhythms that is wrapped up in gorgeous melodic rhythms that contain a glorious sheen over the music. With the riff-work burgeoning on the progressive with the way in which it incorporates some nice technicality for an added benefit to many of the tracks here, the melodies sprinkled throughout here are far more impactful with the steady paces on display allowing the keyboards to mix together with the shimmering guitar leads and the glorious sing-a-long chorus melodies which all shine quite nicely while giving this a warm, inviting presence. As well, once it features the tight, chugging patterns that aren’t really enveloped in those melodies it’s still got a dynamic heavy metal atmosphere that can kick up the intensity quite nicely throughout here as there’s plenty of elements that kick up the tempo into a harder-hitting rhythm and more frantic energy even with the vast majority of the time this one manages to go in the mid-tempo range here to play up the melodies. Luckily, this is kept to a minimum across here as the fact that there’s not a whole lot of these rhythms present here which tends to be the main element holding this one back as there’s way too much of the bands’ admittedly stylish-yet-overly-bland patterns here that don’t really kick up the intensity all that much here, and it all starts to run together into one rather big blur when it comes to these rhythms and riff-patterns overall here. As well, the fact that the progressive, overlong epic here is just way too long and bloated with too many segments and tempo variations just makes it a chore to listen to all the way through as it makes us innately aware of it’s length switching through so many sections. Otherwise, it’s not all that bad.

Displaying plenty of the professionalism and power they’ve become known for here with only a few minor elements that stick out here holding this one back, it manages to come off not only as one of the better examples in the genre but in their catalog as well which makes this appeal to all fans of the bands’ past works and the style in general.

Score: 84/100

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