Soldiers of Forgiveness - "The Year of Virgo"
Classic Metal sound with more ambitious and progressive sensibilities
I chatted with somebody repping this band on Reddit. Cool dude, cool band. Even cooler concept. Check their 3-minute (or so) explainer video on the concept below:
If you watch the video, it plays portions of “The Year of Virgo, Pt 2”, which is the closing track for the album; Part 1 book-ends the album as a sub-3 minute instrumental opener. And it’s also pretty exemplary of the band’s style (though, honestly, it’s probably near the bottom in terms of ranking tracks on the album) - this old-school Heavy Metal style mixing applied to a band playing something that’s more of a mix of Symphonic, Prog, and Power. So the band’s more prominent influences are acts from the 90’s, 00’s, and 10’s, but they *sound* more like a band from the 70’s and 80’s simply because of how the album is mixed, which is very unique.
I have to confess, though, I’ve never loved this style of mixing. It feels flat. I enjoy acts that mimic the old Heavy Metal feel this way because there is still intense artistry at work, but the mix always dulls it for me. So I think that people who can lean into that sound a bit more might get a lot more out of this one. But for me, it’s green. Very good - call it a 7.7. Ish.
Rating: Green
Hey, this is Soldiers of Forgiveness. Just discovered this and really appreciate you writing a review completely on your own. We are glad you are enjoying the album and you also making very valid observations! We are not from this time but we love all the times and that's what you find in our compositions and mixing!