Labyrinth is one of those bands that doesn’t need an introduction. They quickly became one of the kings in Powermetal in the late 90’s – early 2000’s. They were founded all the way back in 1991 in Tuscany, Italy. They have been through some lineup changes but this lineup is stronger than ever! On the lead vocals we have Roberto Tiranti, Olaf Thorsen & Andrea Cantarelli are both lead guitarists, Nik Mazzuccuni is the bass player, on the keyboard we have Oleg Smirnoff and on the drums we have John Macaluso. If this isn’t the perfect lineup then I don’t know what is, they complete each other like no one else can. They started out with their EP ‘Midnight Resistance’, after this they released 2 more EP’s we know as ‘Piece Of Time’ & ‘Timeless Crime’. In 1998 the band released their signature album called ‘Return To Heaven Denied’. This album moved the whole Italian metal scene and also created a big push for the band’s career. Up to this date it’s still classified as a classic piece of work in the genre. They released more albums after that such as ‘No Limits’, ‘Sons Of Thunder’, ‘Labyrinth’, ‘Freeman’, ‘6 Days To Nowhere’ and ‘Return to Heaven Denied Pt. II: A Midnight Autumn’s Dream’. ‘Sons Of Thunder’ for example is a concept album written about King Louis XIV’s obsession with a woman named Kathryn. Last year the band members received a call from Frontiers asking the founding members Cantarelli and Thorsen to discuss with Roberto the possibilities of a return to form comeback from the band. After a lot of talking the band finally agreed to make an album and also make a special appearance at the first annual Frontiers Metal Festival, where they performed the album ‘Return To Heaven Denied’ for a future home video release. This year they finally released a new album, ‘Architecture Of A God’. The supreme quality of the album doesn’t come as a surprise to me. It’s beautifully written and it only makes you want more. And to make it even better it’s mixed by DGM’s Simone Mularoni and labeled by Frontiers Records s.r.l. Continue reading
