Band:	Fleshgod Apocalypse
Album:	Opera
Style:	Symphonic death metal
Release date:	August 2024
A review by:	musclassia

01. Ode To Art (De' Sepolcri)
02. I Can Never Die
03. Pendulum
04. Bloodclock
05. At War With My Soul
06. Morphine Waltz
07. Matricide 8.21
08. Per Aspera Ad Astra
09. Till Death Do Us Part
10. Opera

It’s been a turbulent few years for Francesco Paoli and his band Fleshgod Apocalypse, but the infernal orchestra plays on unabated.

It’s been five years since the band’s previous release Veleno, and Paoli and pianist Franceco Ferrini are the only remaining permanent members from that release, although session musicians Fabio Bartoletti (guitar) and Veronica Bordacchini (vocals) have both been promoted the group’s full-time roster alongside new drummer Eugene Ryabchenko. The only person departing from the group’s line-up in the interim is bassist/clean vocalist Paolo Rossi, but Paoli is perhaps lucky to still be among us after a serious climbing accident. Upon recovery, Paoli and his revamped assembly of musicians have crafted an Opera inspired by his episode.

Despite the changing faces, on the surface Opera is recognizably a Fleshgod Apocalypse album, from the blast-heavy drumming and technical riffs to the bombastic orchestrations. However, there is perhaps a gravitation towards a more melodic and ‘accessible’ approach, particularly with the inclusion of some very catchy choruses and a late-album venture into balladic territory. Obviously a major difference between Opera and the band’s previous records is the absence of Rossi, and his immediately recognizable high-pitched cleans will be firmly missed by some, but Bordacchini does a great job of taking on a leading role in the band.

Her skills as an operatic singer have been evident across her various appearances on previous Fleshgod Apocalypse releases, and they continue to impress here, but it is the variety of other styles brought to the table that make her one of the shining features of Opera. At different times employing a straighter singing tone or launching into a high-intensity rasped approach, her range helps to imbue individual character into songs that could occasionally threaten to blend due to the extravagance of the arrangements. Having said that, there is a surprising level of variety in the band’s intensity across songs.

“I Can Never Die”, the first full track on the record, very much fits the traditional mould of a Fleshgod Apocalypse song, with the jackhammering drumming, and the outbursts of symphonic drama. It is notable, however, for one of those aforementioned catchy choruses, which Bordacchini belts out in a straight tone, as well as a piano breakdown before the final chorus. Right afterwards, however, “Pendulum” suitably swings the pendulum towards a more measured, lurching tempo, its steady pace perpetually punctuated by rapid-fire percussion and guitar stabs. “Bloodclock” strikes a balance between both extremes; the first half is predominantly rapid and blast-laden, but a mid-track detour into a gentler melodic clean-sung passage ultimately leads to a slow, grandiose symphonic conclusion.

This string of songs in the album’s first half gets it off to a solid enough start, but for me it's at the halfway mark of the record that the album comes fully alive. “Morphine Waltz” is a frenetic Vivaldian onslaught of neoclassical metal, with the guitars, strings, brass and harpsichord, among other instruments, working in sync on this rapid full-band workout, and Bordacchini’s fierce, bordering on harsh, approach takes the song to another level; the high-pitched, strained yells work really well in tandem with the rest of the ensemble.

The arpeggiated guitar melodies on following song “Matricide 8.21” do also exhibit clear neoclassical influence, but this track on the whole offers a stark contrast to its immediate predecessor; the simple drumming and riffing in several segments tethers it more to the works of established fem-fronted acts like Nightwish or Ad Infinitum rather than Fleshgod Apocalypse’s back catalog, but this variety is not necessarily a bad thing. Nor is the venture into melancholic ballad territory with “Till Death Do Us Part”, which has a very pleasant melodicism to it. Still, it’s nice to also have a more ferocious and bombastic song in the back half of the album in the form of “Per Aspera Ad Astra”, particularly when Bordacchini’s operatic and straight singing are delivered simultaneously in multiple passages.

In terms of downsides to the Opera, anyone who has previous had issues with finding Fleshgod Apocalypse’s albums to be overproduced and drumming to be sterile will encounter similar barriers on this record. As a more specific complaint, anyone who has a similar aversion as myself to cheesy key changes for the final chorus of a song will share my disdain for occurrences of this at the end of both “I Can Never Die” and “Till Death Do Us Part”. Finally, I do feel that there is a notable jump in quality from the first half of the track list to the back stretch, particularly since the latter half features the album’s (in my opinion) obvious standout song, “Morphine Waltz”.

Having said all that, Opera has caught and held my attention substantially more than Veleno ever managed to. Paoli has come out the other side of his accident strong and inspired, and this could be the start of a very fruitful new phase for the band with Veronica Bordacchini as lead vocalist.