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Adagio - Archangels In Black
Archangels In Black is the fourth studio album of French power metal band Adagio. They made a change by replacing their former vocalist Gustavo Monsanto with Christian Palin. Replacing your vocalist is something that can work two ways. You either lose your “old” fans or it´s such a big improvement that you'll even find some new fans along the way.
 
In the past I have heard various songs of Adagio and somehow never had the click with their music. Power metal isn´t my favourite genre of metal by a long shot and the past songs of Adagio didn´t change my perception of the genre. I didn´t really have high hopes for this album, but it doesn´t hurt to try a band just for broadening your musical taste.
 
Adagio plays power metal with a progressive twist. On this album they surprised me by using thrashy riffs and an excellent way of incorporating keys. They don´t overdo it and the keyboards give the songs just that extra touch. They also make use of gruffy vocals next to the higher pitched ones, which also enlarges the thrash influences.
 
I am still not completely pleased with the vocals. Christian is an excellent vocalist, but his use of a vibrato in his voice is just not my cup of tea. Fortunately he doesn´t use it in every song, so there is enough room for me to enjoy the music. Because I am very pleased with the songs on this album! Especially ´Vamphyri´, ´The Fifth Ankh´ and the epic song ´Codex Oscura´ really hit the right chords with me.
 
Conclusion; Despite my dislike for the genre, I really like this album. The execution is excellent and Christian is a huge improvement and gives Adagio the edge they needed.
Adagio - Archangels In Black
79/1001Details Listenable Records
Released on Monday Feb 2nd, 2009
Power metal

Writer @Neurotic on Friday Jan 23rd, 2009

Tags: #Adagio
Tracklisting 1. Vamphyri
2. The Astral Pathway
3. Fear Circus
4. Undead
5. Archangels In Black
6. The Fifth Ankh
7. Codex Obscura
8. Twilight At Dawn
9. Getsu Senshi
Line up Christian Palin – Vocals
Stéphan Forté – Guitars&Vocals
Franck Hermanny – Bass
Kevin Codfert – Keyboards
Eric Lebailly - Drums