Heroes Temporis is the new classical prog-metal concept piece from Magni Animi Viri, the realization of classical musician Giancarlo Trotta and Luca Contegiacomo, a prog musician. Both of these two Italian virtuosos put their minds and talents together to create this modern rock opera, all sung in Italian & Latin, and rounded out by a stellar list of guest musicians, including Marco Sfogli (James LaBrie) on guitar, Randy Coven (ARK) on bass, John Macaluso (Yngwie Malmsteen, ARK) on drums, as well as a few others. All keyboards and programming are handled by Trotta and Contegiacomo, as the duo give the music a very grand, majestic, and sweeping feel throughout this entire concept album.
With a full orchestra in addition to the fine guest musicians, this is obviously very symphonic stuff overall, that ultimately will appeal more to progressive rock fans than metal lovers. I wouldn't classify anything here are very heavy, although there are some moments when Sfogli's crunchy riffs and sweet solos do make their presence known. For the most part, the symphonic keyboards, sweeping orchestrations, and layers of male and female operatic vocals, take center stage. As all the lyrics are sung in Latin, and the choir parts in Latin (very well done on both I must say), Heroes Temporis might be a tough sell even to those who love this sort of thing. Thankfully, we were given a brochure in English that explains the whole project and storyline, and let me just state that this is a very complex and dense piece from a lyrical standpoint. Whether this brochure will be available to those who purchase the CD I do not know, but it's probably worth checking into if this project sounds appealing to you.
Fans of 70's Italian prog like Banco & PFM, as well as those into the recent concept works of Ayreon and Avantasia, or even the classic Jesus Christ Superstar for that matter, will really enjoy this release. Don't expect a raging prog metal feast, but certainly a symphonic & classical oriented journey with plenty of classy playing and top notch operatic vocal styles is a good way to describe what you will be in for. It will take a few listens to full get into, but in the end the enjoyment will be worth it.
Track Listing
- Colonna Sonora
- Heroes...
- ...Temporis
- Intus
- Finché
- Pensieri
- Tertia Viqillia
- Mai Più
- Desertanima
- Vorrei
- Come Un Falco
- Uritur
- Sai Cos'é
- Immenso
- Fortis
- Senza Respiro
- Outro
- CS Instrumental
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