ALONG THE SACRED PATH

Does epic melodic prog-metal with spirited female vocals and a wisp of RPI grandeur sound good? Years ago, I wrote a review of the first S91 album entitled Volontà Legata, and it was pretty much love-at-first-listen for this RPI aficionado despite their metal classifications. Well, they have raised the bar significantly since that debut. The Tuscany-based S91 (Psalm 91) have been around for nearly 20 years now, and the current line-up is Maria Londino, lead vocals; Francesco Romeggini, guitars, vocals; Giacomo Manfredi, bass; Francesco Londino, keyboards; and Giacomo Mezzetti, drums, vocals.

While their full-length debut Volontà Legata was music to my ears, the band seems to consider 2016's Behold the Mankind to be their proper first album and first installment of a planned conceptual trilogy. I've yet to hear that one. The second part of the trilogy is the ambitious concept album Along the Sacred Path, from 2019. A third related album lies somewhere in the future mists and is rumored to be a more sci-fi exploration of the future of mankind, and I truly hope we see it transpire one day. This album is attempting to merge a journey through historical Christian biographies with the excitement of riveting heavy music. Each track is a story unto itself about various people throughout history, people such as Constantine the Great, Saint Patrick, Joan of Arc, Martin Luther, and many more. Refreshingly, they are considered through the lens of their own time, intentions, and circumstances--not ours.

"Along The Sacred Path" is a concept album that traces the history of Christianity, continuing what was told in "Behold The Mankind". The story is told through the life of some key figures that are not always considered positive by everyone. The main goal is to show how the Gospel message has spread in its original form, becoming the fabric of the modern Western society." -S91

Along the Sacred Path is an absolute killer album of what I'll describe as melodic symphonic metal and, while acknowledging my lack of metal expertise, perhaps a shot of power metal as well? I don't know--the metal experts can hash that out. What I hear is a guitar/bass-heavy song structure that tears it up, seriously shreds, but never has that cold and mechanical, tedious sound of some metal albums. Here the guitars, bass, and drums all sound natural and organic. They are heavy as all hell, but it's real to my rock-roll ear, not mechanical. The keyboards shade everything with great color, and sometimes we are even treated to piano, which is that small nod to RPI that, international or not, warms my heart. I also love how the guitars/bass are prominent in the mix rather than swallowed by the drums and keys as sometimes happens with other bands. They took great pains here to assure everyone is heard. It even grooves at times, can be nimble or explosive, and it straddles light and heavy with ease.

Last but not least are the captivating lead vocals of Maria Londino. Powerful yet easy on the ears, she brings an energy that can cut either bold or graceful depending on the piece. She alternates effectively with the occasional intense male vocals. There is a lovely downshift track, "Pope Gregory I," where the guitars/drums fall away for vocal harmony and keyboard swell. There is a bit of Norwegian vibe with Viking-styled chant on "Olaf II Haraldsson." The 11-minute closer "Dietrich Bonhoeffer" has a cinematic quality with breathless shifts in pacing, a menacing organ intro, extended instrumentals, guitar-keys tradeoff, even the respite of acoustic guitar. But for the most part, this is a searingly heavy ride throughout, so buckle in. With regard to the impressive album art by Gustavo Sazes, the band notes, "If you look at the center, you can see the Campanile di Curon (tower bell of Curon) which is today the only visible part of the ancient village of Curon Venosta (in the north of Italy), now completely covered by mud. The idea is that the Church resists despite the gossip, the disregard, and the scandals." [-quote from Metal Bulletin Zine, 2019]

From the superb technical playing to the production, the composition, and the presentation, this is a truly exceptional piece of work. While I am not "a lyrics guy" and have not dug into the details of the stories, the combination of such elaborate content with the near-perfect musical execution elevates this release to the full star rating for me. It pains me that it has not received more traction than it has. The passion for their shared faith in God combined with their interest in the lives of the subjects produces a focus that is palpable. They seem as excited to learn and share and discuss the concepts as they are to write beautiful, powerful music, and I felt the joy of the inspiration of Christ coming through in these performances. But this is not just music for believers. S91 would love to take all rock fans on this ride they are on. They lament that they are not able to perform live more, the same story I've heard time and again from Italian bands. If you love this as I believe many would, you can support them by getting their CD or merch. And to the members of S91, this American utters a heartfelt molte grazie to you for this work. I wish you the best of luck in your future goals.