DippoMagoo It isn’t too common to find a power/folk metal hybrid anymore, but one country that has proven reliable for this style in recent years is Italy. Obviously, the leaders in that field are Elvenking, but over the past few years, up and coming band Vexillum have proven themselves to be quite the force as well. They emerged in 2004 under the name Shadow Vexillum, but never really took off until 2011, when they released their debut The Wandering Notes, which showed a ton of promise. The follow up album The Bivouac increased the folk metal elements quite a bit, and the release was a noticeable improvement in all areas. With their third release Unum, they have finally turned into an all out power/folk band, as opposed to a power metal band with folk elements as they were before, and this move has paid off for the band, resulting in easily their best work to date.

One thing that’s obvious about Vexillum right from the start of this album is how similar they are to Elvenking at times, especially that band’s debut Heathenreel and their most recent album The Pagan Manifesto. The blend of guitar riffs along with violins and bagpipes results in a very epic sound, and when you add the huge choir vocals to that, it only gets better. Musically, this album is a much more seamless blend of styles than their first two albums were, in that every song shifts between speedy power metal portions, and calmer sections where the folk elements dominate, and there are many times where the songs go from being very quiet to being much heavier. One of Vexillum’s biggest strengths has always been the energy of the music coming from all members of the band, and that is certainly true on Unum as well, as even the wilder and less predictable parts of the album work better than they should, just because there’s so much energy in the music and in the vocals. I will say, though, my one complaint is that the production is a bit weak at times, particular the guitar sound, though that’s understandable considering how much is going in the background throughout every track.

I’ve always had mixed feelings towards singer Dario Vallesi. His voice can be a bit irritating at times, and he always borders on being pitchy, and yet he delivers his lines with so much passion and excitement, that most of the time I can’t help but like him anyway. Two additional factors really help with the vocals on Unum: First off, this album has some of the best, and most unique vocal melodies I’ve heard on a power metal album in a long time. Just when you think they’ve pulled their final trick, they always find ways to surprise you with just how epic and how fresh sounding their vocal melodies can be. The other factor (or factors, I should say) comes from the guest vocals: Unum is actually a concept album, with Dario playing the main character, while the other characters are played by four guests, including Hansi Kürsch (Blind Guardian), Chris Bay (Freedom Call), Maxi Nil (ex-Visions of Atlantis) and Mark Boals (Ring of Fire). That is quite the impressive group of guests, and all of them are used very effectively, with each having a track built around them, while the last main album track “The True Beginning: Standing As One” features brief appearances from all four.

Songwriting is an area where Vexillum has improved greatly over the years, and Unum has some of their best songs to date. The opening track “The Departure: Blow Away the Ashes” begins with an extended instrumental section highlighted by the folk instruments, and the song plods along throughout the verses, but about halfway through the tempo picks up and the song becomes an instant winner. The last two tracks are also excellent, with “The Way Back: The Clash Within” being the fastest song to not feature any guests, and it has some awesome choir vocals during the chorus, along with some really cool chanting at the end, while the closing track “The True Beginning: Standing As One” is a fittingly epic end to the concept portion of the album, and it’s nice to hear all the guests back again.

Speaking of which, the real meat of the album is the middle part, with tracks 2-5 all being duets between Dario and a guest. First up is “The Jester: Over the Clouds”, a fun and upbeat track featuring Chris Bay (and I’m sure his fans will agree that this is the perfect role for him.) The song itself feels like a more folk driven version of his band, as it’s a very fast and very cheerful tune with an insanely epic chorus. Next is “The Sentenced: Fire and Blood”, which features Hansi Kursch. It’s here when Vexillum start to show their versatility, as well as their ability to the play to strengths of their guests, as this track is by far the heaviest on the album and it actually sounds like a Nightfall era Blind Guardian track, except with even stronger folk elements. Hansi sounds right at home, and he and Dario sound great together. I didn’t know what to expect from “Lady Thief: What We Are” as I’ve always found Maxi Nil to be competent, but not particularly memorable. Thankfully, the band managed to deliver again, as this track is more of a light and playful track with very strong folk elements, and it features very strong interplay between the two vocalists. And yes, Maxi certainly is memorable this time around. Last, but not least, we have “The Hermit: Through the Mirror”, a predictably weird but delightful track, which starts out with an extended acoustic section, and probably is the least heavy track on the album, with a bit of a folk rock feel to it, but it also features some truly amazing vocal melodies, especially towards the end.

After the concept portion of the album, we have two cover tracks (“ Spunta la Luna dal Monte” by Tazenda and “Run Runaway” by Slade.) I don’t know either original version so I can’t comment much, but while they do stand out from the rest of the album, it seems like Vexillum has put their own spin on both tracks, and they are both a lot of fun to listen to.

Aside from some minor production flaws and a very brief running time (38 minutes over 7 tracks if you remove the two covers) Unum is an excellent power/folk metal metal hybrid, which shows Vexillum continuing to be influenced by fellow countrymen Elvenking, while mixing in their own sounds and spicing things up with some excellent guest vocals. They keep getting better with each album, so I definitely look forward to hearing more from them in the future.

(originally written for myglobalmind: http://myglobalmind.com/2015/03/23/vexillum-unum-review/)

adg211288 Unum (2015) is the third full-length album by Italian power/folk metal act Vexillum. In the time since the release of their last album The Bivouac (2012) the band has added guitarist Francesco Caprina (Absolute Priority) to their line-up, replacing Andrea Calvanico. Unum is a concept album/metal opera featuring Vexillum's vocalist in the lead role with a small supporting cast providing guest vocals on one song each respectively on tracks two through five. A couple of those guests are quite high profile in the power metal scene being none other than Hansi Kürsch (Blind Guardian) and Chris Bay (Freedom Call). The other two guests are Maxi Nil (Jaded Star), who also had a guest slot on The Bivouac, and Mark Boals (Ring of Fire).

Musically Vexillum reminded me a lot of their countrymen Elvenking when I listened to The Bivouac a few years ago and that's something that hasn't changed with the release of Unum. In fact Unum reminds me even more of Elvenking than its predecessor did to the point that as I was first listening to it and decided to do some research to refresh myself on the band I actually subconsciously started typing Elvenking instead of Vexillum, that was how much the music reminded me of the other band. I've never been one to scream the 'clone act' accusation but I've never mistaken a band's music for another's (especially when I knew what I was listening to!) either. I will say that Unum still strikes me as a little bit more of a power metal album than a folk metal album (which is contrary to most Elvenking) but it is true that Vexillum upped their folk elements a lot for this one when put next to The Bivouac, so it is more of a fully-fledged folk-power metal record this time.

That's the bad-ish news I guess, at least if you're the sort to let strong similarities between two bands put you off. Personally speaking I do find it a little concerning that as the years have gone on Vexillum have gotten more like another band rather than forging their own identity but Unum as an album based on its own merits does more than enough for me to have got over it by the end of my first spin. It really strikes me as Vexillum upping their game as composers. It's apparent even after one spin that Unum is a higher quality record than The Bivouac, which I also happen to think is pretty solid stuff. The music seems more powerful and overall it's a more fun and easy album to listen to, sticking with me quite a while after the end. I can't say whether this is the best Vexillum record so far as I haven't heard their debut The Wandering Notes (2011) but I do know that having enjoyed The Bivouac previously Unum makes me even more interested in where Vexillum can take their music next. Despite rampant similarities to Elvenking the increased folk elements are a nice touch and the duets are effective. Even the two cover songs that close the album (Tazenda's Spunta La Luna Dal Monte and Slade's Run Runaway) are pretty damn effective in Vexillum's style. 4 Stars.

adg211288 The Bivouac is the second album by Italian power metal act Vexillum. The album was released in 2012. Vexillum was first formed as Shadow Vexillum and released one demo before shortening their name, releasing another demo and then their debut album The Wandering Notes in 2011. The Bivouac marks the debut of the band’s new drummer Efisio Pregio and features a guest appearance by Maxi Nil, one of the vocalists of Visions of Atlantis during The Oak and Lady Flame.

Vexillum’s music, which is power metal at heart, is also heavily influenced by folk and symphonic metal while not sitting completely comfortably in either of these genres. In some ways the kind of energy exhibited by the band reminds me of their countrymen Elvenking circa that band’s debut album Heathenreel albeit it with a much more dominate power metal focus and much less frequent folk instrumentation, although there is still a fair bit of it during the album. I’d also say Vexillum’s vocalist Dario Vallesi has a voice than is much less of an acquired taste than Elvenking’s Damnagoras. But while they do remind me of a less folksy Elvenking, unlike Elvenking’s own less folksy albums, The Bivouac is a much more satisfactory release to these ears.

If power metal isn’t your thing, then The Bivouac isn’t likely to an album to change your mind about the genre. While to the power metal fan Vexillum produce a sound that is just what the doctor ordered, to the outsider it will still appear somewhat cheesy, although Vexillum is nowhere near as overdone as some acts in the power metal game.

I do however think that the release has a couple of faults which while they do not completely hinder my enjoyment of the album, do keep it off of the highest tiers of ratings for me. Perhaps the most obvious issue is the backing vocals. Dario Vallesi has a great voice for lead vocals, but with a voice like that I’m not entirely sure where the need for backing vocals arises. At best they simply feel unnecessary, but at worst they actually come across as subpar, such as in opener The Wanderer’s Note.

A more minor quibble is that although we are talking a generally high quality level with mostly killer tracks, The Bivouac does occasionally come across as one of those power-folk albums where the mix of elements is good, but sounds like it could have been even better if there was a bit more balance between them. It’s the folksiest of the tracks where the album delivers its finest goods, The Way Behind The Hill being an example. Not that Vexillum isn’t capable of making power metal dominate songs, they very much are and the songs are definitely all growers. The Bivouac feels a more rewarding album with each listen I’ve given it. However there are many times in the album where I can’t shake the feeling that I’d be listening to an even better song if a little reworking of influences had been done. Even so, no less than a great album tier rating is deserved.

8.3/10

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven (http://metaltube.freeforums.org))