S91

Divine Histories and Inspiration

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.

3.5 stars for sure

S91 from Italy was a nice discovery for me somewhere in summer last year while searching for some new bands to discover from bandcamp page. These italians really made an more then ok 2 albums so far. This is their second offer issued in 2016 named Behold the mankind. So, what about the music, to my ears it sounds like a metalized version of italian symphonic prog, definetly more on prog metal side but symphonic passages are present aswell, similarities with another great italian prog band VIII Strada, The new pieces are really inspired and complicated songwriting in many parts, very nice duelings between guitars and keyboards, strong female voice of Maria Londino.. The band has an invited male vocalist Christian Liljegren (from Narnia, Flagship fame among others)integrated very well in this type of sound. Very solid musicianship, sprecially I like a lot the keyboards, pieces like Slaves And Kings, and The Son Of God . A band that gone under the radar in prog metal circles, this is a fairly good release that must be praised little more, S91 has plenty of talent to go further and crating some even better albums. Since then to me is a 3 star rounded to 3.5 stars album, nice art work, album available on italian label Undergound symphony. A nice one, gone unnoticed by prog metal listners.

From the streets of Montecarlo

After years poring through hundreds of Italian rock bands in the grasp of a most wonderful musical addiction, the last couple years have been spent listening to a wider range of things for sure. Still, when the chance arises I love to return to my adopted musical homeland. And when I find a band from a small town I love to tour their home on google maps to get an idea of their possible inspirations. Not often have my tours been any more rewarding than checking out S91's hometown of Montecarlo, in Tuscany. Could I use a summer in this gorgeous little village of thin streets, homey estates, and 14th century history in the air? Oh yeah.

S91 formed in Tuscany in 2006 and profess influences of Shadow Gallery and Stream of Passion, progressive rock, metal, and pop. Somewhat unusual for a metal band is that they are fronted by not one, but three female vocalists, and two of them, Tania and Maria handle the lyrics. The music is written by Frank and Franz, keyboardist Francesco Londino having played piano since he was a child. The members of the band have been friends and this camaraderie comes through in the music. It appears there have been some personnel changes since this work, we shall see once their upcoming second full length is released.

While advertised here as a metal band, S91 take a more balanced approach, their "metal" element on the lighter side of the spectrum. What I appreciate about them is that unlike the somewhat cold "mechanical" sound of some prog-metal bands who seem so hung up on intense heaviness, S91 has equal parts softness, human emotion, and obviously a heavy dose of the feminine. Being Italians, whether intentional on their part or not, some of their appreciation for RPI bands like PFM and Orme can be heard on the last two songs primarily. The blend of symphonic grandeur with metal intensities and RPI infusion make for an exciting aural adventure of modern and traditional elements, with plenty of unapologetic humanity shining through.

"What I appreciate about Volonta Legata is how it brings enough over the top progressiveness to appeal to those whose tastes range from Neal Morse to Pink Floyd to Shadow Gallery to Dream Theater and all things in between....you will encounter enough complex songwriting and maze like twists and turns to keep most progressive aficionados interested for time to come...it grew on me with repeated play." -Andrew Rockwell, AngelicWarlord.com

In a world so heavy with despair and misguided madness I find the band's Christian inspiration to be no problem, and in fact uplifting. Worry not, there is no browbeating of the audience here, just a band inspired particularly by Psalm 91 from which the band name originates. It would be foolish to let the Christian tag alone stop you from investigating this music, though no doubt some will. The vocals are a mix of English and Italian, naturally the Italian vocals work much better for this RPI fan.

Early tracks were engaging and energetic to be sure, but the highlight is the 18 minute centerpiece "The Seal of the Living God." A nice array of modern keyboard textures with some piano meet excellent guitar work. Sudden diversions and tempo changes along with a bombastic attitude set the table where lovers of "epic" tracks shall dine. There are breaks for both guitar and keys solos and both are beautiful and inspired--the guitar solo just slays me! The track begins with gruff male vocals before the instrumental breaks, then moves to lovely female harmonies and piano, and more killer lead guitar work. The closer "Spazio inconcepibile" just gets even prettier with acoustic guitar behind melodic piano and vocal harmonies. The songwriting in general is very melodic and appealing, shred never becoming more important than the listening pleasure.

Some will point out that it has all been done before by numerous Dream Theater/Nightwish clones and I understand. But S91 have their own vibe and they appealed to me where those other have not. This album is kind of special in its blend of benevolence and personality.

S91 from Italy was a nice discovery for me somewhere in summer last year while searching for some new bands to discover from bandcamp page. These italians really made an more then ok album, at least for me. This is the first full lenght album issued in 2011 named Volonta Legata, they had an EP released in 2009. So, what about the music, to my ears it sounds like a metalized version of italian symphonic prog, really inspired and complicated songwriting in many parts. The music is overall progressive metal not far from DT school or alike but is melted so well with symphonic prog passages, that in the end these two genres works very well. The band has two female voice working together or separatly + a male voice, all three integrated very well in this type of sound. Very solid musicianship, sprecially I like a lot the keyboards, pieces like title track or the mini epic The Seal Of The Living God clocking around 18 to me are quite excellent, even the origibality lacks. A band that gone under the radar in prog metal circles, this is a fairly good debut that must be praised little more, S91 has plenty of talent to go further and crating some even better album then Volonta legata. Since then to me is a 4 star album, nice art work, album available on their bandcamp page digital or CD.

'Volontà Legata' - S91 (6/10)

Progressive metal has been running strong ever since a band called Dream Theater released an album called 'Images & Words'; some might even argue that the style was up and going years before that, as well. Italian act S91 seeks to uphold the legacy of music by taking the sound and mission of progressive metal, and combining it with the signature sound of their country's monstrous prog scene. While this is a combination of sounds that sparks interest in me at first, the band's debut 'Volontà Legata' is faster to inspire a sense of indifference over anything else, despite demonstrating some solid potential throughout the course of this album.

'Volontà Legata' is not the first thing that S91 has recorded, but it witnesses a stark move towards more drawn out compositions, and somewhat heavier performance. As far as metal goes, S91 are actually quite conservative in terms of heaviness, and instead seek to flesh out their sound through harmonies and keyboard textures. Truth be told, it's a formula that has already been done to death, and S91 does little to juice the sound up into something new or fresh. What 'Volontà Legata' passes me as is a generic symphonic metal album, sans the symphonic aspect.. The female vocals only further the comparison to bands like Lacuna Coil or Delain. To their credit though, S91 have done something that I do not think I have heard much in progressive metal, that is to combine the sounds of Italian prog with the done-to-death Dream Theater formula. While the usual suspects that make up the progressive metal sound are certainly here in the sort of doses one might expect from a tame record of the sound, I am also hearing Premiata Forneria Marconi, and while this stylistic fusion isn't done with as much conviction as I would have liked, it is certanly a promising step that could see the band break out of their rather generic ground in the future.

Being a metal band, it should be mentioned that S91 revolves their music around Christian concepts, and some listeners may have a bone to pick with that. Being an English-speaking listener not (yet) fluent in the Italian language, I can only understand bits and pieces of what the soft voice of Maria Londino sings, and the phonetics of the language work very well all the same. Christian lyrics are usually not an issue- after all, if it's what inspires someone to create art, than it's as good as anything- and even if I could not directly relate to what is being sung here, it shouldn't deter from the listening enjoyment. There is some very good musicianship here, particularly a Petrucci-esque guitar solo on the album's centerpiece, 'The Seal Of The Living God'. S91 do not entirely impress me with this album, but they have enough promise as a group to keep me interested in checking out whatever they may release in the future.