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Dragonhammer: The X Experiment
Dragonhammer: The X Experiment
Progressive Power Metal
3.5/5.0
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My Kingdom Music
by Craig Hartranft, 11.22.2013
Here's another band that's been missing in action for quite some time, nine years to be exact. Italy's Dragonhammer returns with their fourth album, The X Experiment, now on the My Kingdom Music label.
Dragonhammer:: it says so right there.
Put the words 'dragon' and 'hammer' in a band name and you can probably guess what type of music the play: power metal. In the case of Dragonhammer, the toss in more progressive and symphonic metal elements. Also, for this revival, they get some help from some rather famous countrymen including guitarist Francesco Fareri (Jeff Loomis, Vitalij Kuprij, Virtual Mind) doing a solo on My Destiny, Roberto Tiranti (Labyrinth, A.P.D., et al) doing vocals on The End of the World, and Titta Tani (Ashent, Phoenix Rising, et al) handling vocals on My Destiny.
I'll admit on the first spin two words came to mind about The X Experiment: typical and dull, to describe their progressive power metal. After a second turn, while this may be typical of the genre, the music is much better than I originally thought. Escape, My Destiny, and The Others are fine examples of well-crafted melodic heavy metal with progressive nuances. Follow Your Star, clearly a metal anthem, bumps up the symphonic side and adds some female background vocals.
I think what put me off the first time was Max Aguzzi's vocals. I simply did not like listening to him, and still don't, although he may grow on me, scary. When he stops singing and the music comes to the forefront, Dragonhammer's metal shines quite brightly. This is an odd thing since the band has Titta Tani, a very talented and balanced vocalist, perform on My Destiny, making it the best vocal song here. (Although, it does sound like Aguzzi works his way in their as well). Maybe Titta Tani should takeover on lead vocals. I'd go for that. Ultimately, I'm glad I gave Dragonhammer's The X Experiment a second chance; it's solid Italian progressive power metal.
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In Short
After a nine year absence, Italy's Dragonhammer returns with The X Experiment, a slab of solid Italian progressive power metal, although I wasn't too keen on the vocals.
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