DiAmorte Released “Red Opera” December 2018 with Dark Star Records.
Record review by The Pit Master
DiAmorte. When I first got this record on the desk I thought, “Hey! I heard of this band! I covered them opening for Whitesnake in Houston at the House of Blues.” Well, I was really confused when I started playing it and it was not even close to Diamante who I saw in Houston.
But wait! What have the gods wrought upon my ears??
Red Opera is much more than a slapped-together, cookie cutter record that could be played live without much effort. This record by DiAmorte is more than music; it is an experience. It is definitely not the metal that I am accustomed to hearing. The music from Red Opera is orchestral, huge, anthemic. You pick a word. It is reminiscent of other bands I have seen or listened to in the past, such as Epica, Nightwish, Evanescence, or Sonata Arctica.
DiAmorte are:
Drake Mefestta – Lead vocals
Giampaul Andrianopoulos – Male Opera Vocals
Armenia Sarkissian (Soloist) – Female Opera Vocals
Alina Gavrilenko (Snowmaiden) – Female Opera Vocals
Markus Johansson – Lead / Rhythm Guitars Michael Lepond – Bass
DiAmorte tells stories set to the picturesque sounds of savage orchestral arrangements and metal instrumentation. These epic songs are completed with the powerfully enchanting voices of two female opera singers and a male opera vocalist, melding with the bestial sounds of darkly classical guttural vocals from lead singer and front man Drake Mefestta.
The Red Opera tells the tale of two fallen kingdoms in a dying land locked in an eternal conflict known as “The Great Divide.” On the horizon looms a dark, insidious force that influences and corrupts the powerful, accursed lord and through him, seeks to destroy all humanity and life, including his beloved human shield maiden that new life may begin again.
Red Opera is music that I would typically hear from similar bands from Europe. Nope. DiAmorte is from Chicago, Illinois.
The combination of sights and sounds from DiAmorte build the atmosphere with each song, setting the nature of the experience and bringing to life the lyrics. DiAmorte seeks to redefine the genre of symphonic metal. They break down the genre to its core, by centralizing on the symphonic arrangements, using modern instrumentation as support. The music is unapologetically theatrical, cinematic, and grandiose. Red Opera harkens back to the rock operas of old. It is the philosophy for live shows that to simply enter on stage and play songs, as they were on the album, without anything further is to simply listen to the album itself. Music provokes visualization and demands it to complete it in entirety. Much like Trans-Siberian Orchestra productions.
I have listened to Red Opera a dozen times or more.
Each time with the intent of writing this review, but somehow getting caught up banging my head and thrashing about the office. DiAmorte delivers each song with massive guitar riffs, soul shaking rhythms, and a bass line that rattles my core. I can’t pinpoint one song that I like over another, because every song is a herculean masterpiece. Gun to head, I would listen to Theme of The Betrayer until the record warped. Drake Mefessta’s voice is intense and the backup vocals, rhythm section and guitar riff just slay it!
Red Opera by DiAmorte is a must buy in my book. You can find DiAmorte and Red Opera on Facebook or their Website.
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