lukretion Three years after releasing a solid debut record like Romantic Tragedy's Crescendo, rooted in the “beauty and the beast” gothic metal tradition, Italian band Macbeth are back with their sophomore album, Vanitas. There have been a few line-up changes between the two albums, most notably both vocalists (Vittorio and Cristina) who had played on the debut have been replaced by Andreas Cislaghi (the brother of the band’s drummer, Fabrizio) and Morena Rozzi. Bassist Marco “Sem” Semenza also makes his first appearance with the band on this record.

The line-up changes are reflected in a fairly marked shift in the band’s sound too. On Vanitas Macbeth distance themselves from the Norwegian symphonic gothic metal scene (Theatre of Tragedy, Tristania), which had been an inspiration for the debut record, and move closer to the brand of symphonic black/gothic metal that Cradle of Filth were heralding in those years. The songs are long (many pass the 6 minutes mark) and are comprised of multiple recurring parts, alternating between faster sections and slower, more atmospheric episodes. Gothic keyboards and piano abound, while the guitars combine thrashy riffs with melodic galloping leads and solos. I also perceive influences from more straightforward classic heavy metal lurking in there, perhaps more prominently so than on Cradle’s albums. In the same way, there is perhaps a bit less double bass drums than what you would expect on a symphonic gothic metal album, but that’s because Fabrizio Cislaghi is a very versatile and technical drummer who likes to spice things up using multiple playing styles. His performance on this album is remarkable and very engaging. In fact, all musicians are very proficient at their instruments, and the rich, tight and vibrant instrumental arrangements are probably the main strength of this record.

The influence of the British vampires is also evident in the style of the two vocalists, Andreas and Morena. Andreas in particular adopts many of Dani Filth’s vocal gimmicks, from lacerating growls, to evil whispers, to guttural spoken parts. Unlike Dani, Andreas also frequently employs his clean voice, in a declamatory and mildly deranged style that is reminiscent of Norwegian “clean” vocalists in black/extreme metal albums. Morena plays a secondary role compared to Andreas. She mostly appears in spoken vocal parts, with languid declamations that are intended to be sensual as per the genre stereotype of the female vocalist. In a few songs she also sings together with Andreas. The wide range of vocal styles adopted on the album is certainly ambitious, but the vocals are also the weakest spot of the record. Andreas and Morena’s cleans are particularly bad, often pitchy and devoid of any emotional depth. To be fair, they are not given very strong melodies to sing. To the contrary, the melodic ideas on display here are pretty flat and unoriginal. The spoken/whispered/theatrical parts are also bad and often cringeworthy. They are not helped either by the rather stereotypical lyrics. Andreas’ growls are OK, but are too upfront in the mix in a way that highlights all the little imperfections of his singing.

The weak vocals are most definitely a death sentence for this record. It’s a pity because the music is actually pretty good and full of nuance, and the quality of the playing is also high. Listen for example to the awesome instrumental detour in the second half of “Pure Treasure” or to the sophisticated guitar arrangements on “Aloisa”. Unfortunately these cannot fully compensate for the poor vocal performance, also because the vocals are all over the songs on this album. Overall, this is an album that could have been so much better and instead leaves me with the impression that Macbeth are an unfulfilled promise of Italian extreme metal.