Thy Majestie is going to release their 6^th album on the 25^th of September. The album is called “ShiHuangDi”, a strange name at first sight. Lets check this new Italian cd.

Thy Majestie was founded in 1998 by Guiseppe Bondi (keyboards) and Claudio Diprima (drums). For this album Thy Majestie has a new vocalist by the name of Alessio Taormina. They come from Palermo, Sicily in Italy. Their music is power metal with symphonic influences. The new album contains 11 songs with a total playing time of 51 minutes. The theme of the album is the life and times of the first Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huang who reigned in 221 BC.

The album kicks off with “Zhoongguo”, a building up of a symphonic masterpiece, very promising. It continues with “Seven Reigns”. This starts of very well, good drums and multi vocals choirs, good guitars and keys. Then the new vocalist starts with good vocals. This songs automatically makes your head go yeeeaah! Great guitar and keyboard solos. These guys can play! Love the changing of keys and guitar solos. “Harbringer of a New life” starts off with some female chanting, followed by heavy drums and guitars. Vocals come out very nice in this song, same for the guitar solo’s.

“Siblings of Titan” starts a bit softer with a bit of Celtic influences. Nicely done, it ads a bit of a different spice to the meat. “Walls of the emperor” starts with some chants and horns, followed by some heavy guitar and drum, making it headbanging good. This song really rocks, its heavy and melodic and the end is really nice. ”Under the same sky” starts really nice and slow, with even some violins and angels. Then some nice clean dramatic vocals without Italian accent, and then the Italian speeds comes in. This is a nice song with some slower and quieter parts and then full speed ahead.

“Farewell” start with a very nice female chants followed again by… yes some quick drums, fast solo, quiet and clean vocals. And then off again. “Huanghun” is all instrumental which tells a story, followed by “Ephemeral” which opens a bit Chinese, nice. The song itself is fast, good vocals, fast drums and very melodic. The build-up to the guitar solos in the end is excellent.

“End of the Days” starts with calm vocals and some very good bass followed by the last song of the album “Requim”. This starts off a bit strange and dramatic with Chinese influences. Followed by very nice calm vocals which become increasingly dramatic, taken over by a slow guitar solo which leaves me with shivers down the spine.

To Thy Majestie: very well done! To the new vocalist: excellent beginning!

Altogether, Thy Majestie is a very well balanced band. Their news album rocks! Good vocals, awesome guitar and keyboard solos. A must have for every power metal fan. To say in Italian: This is the pizza with all the right toppings. To say in Dutch: Pre-Order material.

Rating:9/10

A hint fo the fans: Thy Majesty performs on the 2 & 3 November on the Brainstorm Festival in Apeldoorn, The Netherlands.

Tracklist:
1. Zhongguo
2. Seven reigns
3. Harbinger of new dawn
4. Siblings of Tian
5. Walls of the emperor
6. Under the same sky
7. Farewell
8. Huanghun
9. Ephemeral
10. End of the days [feat. Fabio Lione]
11. Requiem

Thy Majestie is:
Alessio Taormina  – Vocals
Simone Campione – Guitars
Guiseppe Carruba – Keyboards
Dario D’Alessandro – Bass
Claudio Diprima- Drums

Discography:
1999 – Perpetual Glory [Self-production]
2000 – The Lasting Power [Scarlet Records]
2002 – Hastings 1066 [Scarlet Records]
2003 – Echoes of War [Scarlet Records]
2005 – Jeanne d’Arc [Scarlet Records]
2008 – Dawn [Dark Balance]

 Record Label: Scarlet Records, Sept. 2012

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Harbinger Of A New Dawn

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