ADAGIO — Sanctus Ignis (review)

ADAGIO — Sanctus Ignis album cover Album · 2001 · Progressive Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
Stephen
The young-and-talented French axeman, Stephan Forté, teamed up with Pink Cream 69's singer, David Readman and Majestic's keyboardist, Richard Anderson, and released an idealistic neoclassical power with progressive and symphonic touch debut, "Sanctus Ignis", in 2001. Produced by Dennis Ward which was also known as the bassist of PC69 and also involved in many Frontiers' AOR project, this record has an admirable sound, helped us a lot to appreciate every details of Forté's ideas implementation.

When I first listen to this disc, the opening track, "Second Sight" didn't impress me much. It's a good track, heavy metal based with classical passage and dark atmosphere, but I thought I've heard this style before and thought everything will sounded just the same to the end, but I was wrong. "The Inner Road" started building my mood with a complex prog-metal structure but "In Nomine.." that sucked me deep into their music. Started with a symphonic intro, the tempo is climbing up and you can hear Malmsteen's influence everywhere. "The Stringless Violin" is even better and this is the best composition I found within the album. The enigmatic spine-chilling organ intro, the prog/power explosion, the beautiful melodic insertion, the enchanting piano solo, everything's perfect in its own place.

The longest 11-minutes epic, "Seven Lands of Sin" perhaps could be stated as the center pillar of the album, blending every aspects into one bowl of song, but to me, it's not as outstanding as "Violin". "Panem Et Circenses" is a prog/power grower and Zeppelin's instrumental rendition of "Immigrant Song" is interesting, but the powerful pulse-pounding "Order of Enlil" is another sparkling jewel here. The title track is also showcasing Readman's insane sky-climbing wails and contained a big melodic proportion with a strong neoclassical composition.

"Sanctus Ignis" defines a captivating multi-national debut with exceptional musicians and highly recommended for fans of progressive metal, Yngwie Malmsteen, and power metal.
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