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.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Everything Hurts And I'm Dying Atmospheric Sludge Metal
NEGATIVE BLISS
Buy this album from MMA partners
L'impôt du sang Melodic Black Metal
CONIFÈRE
Buy this album from MMA partners
Pleroma Progressive Metal
ORGONE
Buy this album from MMA partners
n​ê​bam​Ω​ejn Atmospheric Black Metal
TRHÄ
Buy this album from MMA partners
∫um'ad​∂​ejja cavvaj Atmospheric Black Metal
TRHÄ
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Origin Of Infinity - Chronosphere (OFFICIAL LYRIC VIDEO)
ORIGIN OF INFINITY
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Kingdom of Heaven - “Pleasures of Pain”
KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
Bosh66· 1 day ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Sanctuary [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 18 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Farewell [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 18 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Curtain of Death - [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 18 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed