Sea Of Tranquility


The Web Source for Progressive Rock, Progressive Metal & Jazz-Fusion
  Search   in       
Main Menu




LoreWeaver: Imperviae Auditiones

Female fronted prog bands (FFPBs) are not everyone's cup of tea, even more so female fronted prog metal bands (FFPMBs) but Barbara Rubin is a revelation. At the Tracey Hitchens / Lana Lane end of the spectrum, she does sound remarkably like James La Brie. I kid you not. The musicianship is of the highest quality and the band are as tight as a drum. There's a lovely warm sound to the production, even on an alienware laptop, and on decent Denon kit even the mp3 download I got to review has a toweringly big sound. Burned to CD and ripped to a brennan jb7 the sound is tight, taut and kudos have to go to the rhythm section of Giordano Mattiuzzo (bass) and Claudio Cavalli (drums) who lay an incredibly solid foundation for some seriously good progressive metal by the rest of the band, Lorenzo Marcenaro on keyboards and Francesco Salvadeo on guitars.

The band were interviewed recently by Sea of Tranquillity reviewer John O'Boyle (for the Dutch Progressive Rock Page), and Barbara explained the musical backgrounds, and influences of the band, which should give you an idea of what to expect when the five of them combine:

"Each of us has very different musical backgrounds: me and Lorenzo are fond of classic rock & vintage progressive, Giordano grew up listening to 80′s hair & heavy metal (Savatage, Def Leppard,) and Queen as well. Francesco is a fan of authentic trash metal (Megadeth & Metallica) while Claudio is a 360° heavy metal fan who fell in love with jazz & swing! So, we are lucky to find the way to make a good blend of these genres."

Fans of the aforementioned singers, as well as those who dig Ayeron and Erik Norlander's work will love this, and it comes highly recommended to all prog metal fans.

I particularly enjoyed: Barbara's multilayered, powerful and passionate vocal delivery; the guitar work on "Dead Man Walking" and the guitar/piano interplay on "Follow the Weaver"; the Rush / early Dream Theater vibe of the instrumental "Ride the Owl"; the haunting piano opening of "That Night" (again the vocals are amazing) and the epic ten minute cinematic closer "Ultraworld".

This record comes highly recommended – the package and artwork looks lovely, and the English lyrics are thoughtful and delivered passionately, powerfully, perfectly by perhaps one of the best singers I've heard in a long while.


Track listing:

  1. Bogus (7:51)
  2. Dead Man Walking (6:28)
  3. De Rerum Natura (7:44)
  4. Follow the Weaver (7:43)
  5. Avoid Feelings (6:42)
  6. Ride The Owl (4:27)
  7. That Night (7:06)
  8. Ultraworld (9:45)

Added: June 26th 2011
Reviewer: Brian Watson
Score:
Related Link: Band MySpace Page
Hits: 3077
Language: english

[ Printer Friendly Page Printer Friendly Page ]
[ Send to a Friend Send to a Friend ]

  

[ Back to the Reviews Index | Post Comment ]

» SoT Staff Roundtable Reviews:

LoreWeaver: Imperviae Auditiones
Posted by Steven Reid, SoT Staff Writer on 2011-06-30 18:34:03
My Score:

I very nearly had the pleasure of seeing Italian prog metal outfit Loreweaver at this year's excellent Fused Festival in the UK, however work commitments robbed me of the third day of the gathering and my chance to witness a band who were, by the accounts of those who remained, amongst the best of the entire weekend. So it was with much excitement that I first popped the debut album from the band into my CD player and I have to say that I haven't been disappointed. Hailing from a country which has slowly built a solid reputation for Dream Theater like prog metal, it is of absolutely no surprise that Loreweaver are consummate musicians capable of composing intricate and captivating songs. However what immediately sets this band apart from many working within this musical sphere is that are in no way a copy-cat outfit, instead stamping their own identity on their music right from the off. Yes there are Dream Theater influences and Vanden Plas are also conjured up from time to time, however so is the flavour of early Marillion, Genesis or even a touch of Nightwish. Pleasingly the odd curve ball is also lobbed in to unsettle, engross and entertain, creating an album which never feels dull or predictable. Having a female singer isn't exactly the novelty it once was in the metal genre; however Barbara Rubin's rasping throaty delivery fires out lethal doses of vocal that are as aggressive as they are melodious. Her versatility allows the music of Loreweaver to duck and weave without fear of exposing a vocal frailty, leading to some eclectic, but remarkably focused songs.

With eight tracks and only one coming in at under the six minute mark, it is fair to suggest that Loreweaver prefer their music to meander, although it does so with an almighty smack. Big riffs are the order of the day, but then so are soaring guitar solos, bouncing bass lines and poignant salvos of keyboards that spice up the bristling guitars and offer a vastly different outlook to most prog metal out there. Add to that a drummer in the shape Claudio Cavalli who avoids putting four on the floor, without falling into the over busy Portnoy trap, and you have a unit with the ability terrify, seduce and enchant at their will. Guitarist Francesco Salvadeo is a player who can bring different styles and textures to his sound and whether that takes the shape of the squealing staccato riffed "Follow The Weaver" where Rubin virtually spits the vocals at you, or the more considered, if no less impactful "Avoid Feelings", where the keyboards and piano of Lorenzo Marcenaro dance sublimely, the end results are invariably stunning. "That Night" brings an altogether more restrained colour to the Loreweaver palette, allowing Rubin to give her most imperious vocal performance on the album and it is to her eternal credit that she reaches this peak as she dances round the sublime bass work of Giordano Mattiuzzo on the starkest song on "Imperviae Auditiones".

As prog metal albums go this is a hugely impressive effort, however as debut prog metal albums go, it is verging on stunning.



© 2004 Sea Of Tranquility		For information regarding where to send CD promos and advertising, please see our FAQ page.
If you have questions or comments, please Contact Us.
Please see our Policies Page for Site Usage, Privacy, and Copyright Policies.

All logos and trademarks in this site are property of their respective owner. The comments are property of their posters, all other content © Sea of Tranquility

SoT is Hosted by SpeedSoft.com