Hypersonic, a symphonic power metal band, hailing from the beautiful city of Belpasso, Catania, situated on Sicily’s east coast, are out with their second full length album, Existensia, recorded and released by Revalve Records on May,2016. Formed almost a decade ago, this band is the brainchild of Salvo Grasso and Emanuele Gangemi. The band in its initial years saw quite a few line-up changes, things started shaping up when back in 2008 Alessia Rapisarda decided to join in on the vocals.
The band released its first Eponymous Inspiration in transpiration, which was received well by the listeners and received positive feedback by the metal community. The band recorded and released their first album”Fallen melodies” in 2009 at TRP Music studio, following which they released their first single “Rebirth”. The band toured and played in a lot of European and Italian festivals during this period.
Existentia, is the band’s first concept album, which is based on the existence of man and the spiritual affairs afterlife. The album opens up with “The first sounds of Life”, which sets an amazing backdrop and feels like a movie score. It takes its time to build up and while doing so we realise that we have been introduced to something epic. The warm and fuzzy guitars blend well with the piano, and Alessia Rapisarda brings in an amazing flavour to the band’s sound. Her melodic and deep vocals go really well and sets an amazing ambient sound in your living room. The short and sweet guitar solo towards the end is to be cherished.
A more traditional sound is heard on the second track, “The eyes of the wolf”, Alessia does have an impressive range, and during the song, the guitarist and the pianist engage in a duel trying to outperform each other, giving the listener joy. “As an Angel” one of the fast paced songs on the album has amazing guitar shreds, has a powerful chorus, and the transition on the vocals is quite astounding. Both the piano and guitar solos at the end merge and give a fitting response to Alessia’s vocals.
The “Blind sins” sits patiently as the 4th track on the album, and again Alessia’s beautiful voice steals the show, as it dominates song after song. “Living in the light” has a catchy chorus, and all the members take it upon themselves to showcase their technical prowess by playing solo taking turns, starting off with a rumbling bass solo, a lightening piano solo and kicking it high with a crunchy guitar solo.
“Embrace Me”, has to be my favourite song of the album, for it captivates you with a beautiful guitar intro, and the awe inspiring vocal melody gives you a feeling of eventual doom. This song has so much soul in it, and has everything that could make it one of the best ballads for this year. Songs like “Love is Pain”, “Gods Justice” and “Life’n Death” has more emphasise on the guitars and has pretty catchy riffs. “Pilgrim’s path” is an ambient song finding itself a chapter in this story.
“Prayer in the dark” and “The Meaning of… (…Existence)” closes this brilliant concept album.
Production – The album on the whole has quite complex song arrangements and at no point loses melody. The songs are all vocal driven, which puts the vocal section of the album a little loud compared to the others.
Conclusion – If you are looking out for a melodic sound and beautiful vocals, you’ve hit the jackpot with this one. Go for it!
Rating: 7.5/10
Written by: Ankit Sood
Track list:
01. The First Sound of Life (Principium)
02. The Eyes of the Wolf
03. As an Angel
04. Blind Sins
05. Living in the Light
06. Embrace Me
07. Love Is Pain (Heartbroken)
08. God’s Justice
09. Life’n Death
10. Pilgrim’s Path
11. Prayer in the Dark
12. The Meaning of… (…Existence)
Band Members:
Alessia Rapisarda: Vocals
Salvo Grasso: Drums & male vocals
Emanuele Gangemi: Guitars
Francesco Caruso: Bass
Dario Caruso: Keyboards
Guests appearances:
Michele Luppi
Tommy Johansson
Jo Lombardo
Roberta Pappalardo
Record Label: Revalve Records, May 2016
Buy the album here:
Holland: First Paradox
Norway: Nordic Mission
Video below: ‘Embrace Me’
Lyric Video: ‘As an Angel’