The intro ‘Of War and Sorrow’ gives the album a heroic intro. Getting ready for ‘Army of Stone’. It continues in the same melody as the intro did. Powerchords and a synth that plays the melodies, the basic ingredients for power metal. Top it off with the raw voice of lead singer Francesco Cavalieri and you are ready to raise your axes! The song continues on a steady pace. ‘Tales of a War’ continues that same feeling of heroism, but with a faster pace. Getting you ready for battle.

‘Fellows of the Hammer’ has this medieval sound to it in the form of Celtic sounding music. After a bit, this gets mixed with electric guitars and create the perfect Windrose formula. ‘Together We Rise’ uses the same formula, but added a sound of an axe hitting iron in it. Let’s call it a mining sound. ‘Gates of Ekrund’ comes off like a fairy tail of some sorts. The song creates the mental image of a castle and a huge land around it.

‘One Last Day’ starts again with a musical intro. Francesco Cavalieri’s low and raw voice kicks in and when the backing vocals join, it sounds like an army is coming right at you. ‘The Battle of the Five Armies’ has a shorter musical intro and goes faster almost straight away. By a few seconds, this is the longest song on the album. The music is nice but it just doesn’t quite get me, as I feel there’s not much changing to the formula of the songs.

Second to last song ‘I Am the Mountain’ has beautiful music in de background. The electric guitars blend with the synth sounds and tell you different episodes of the song and its story. Last song ‘Tomorrow Has Come’ opens with a clean acoustic guitar. Francesco’s voice comes in loud and clear. Just a tiny bit of instrumentals, but mostly his voice comes through. Near the end the electric guitars tune in and this becomes a statement. A truly beautiful and different song to end on.

The music is nice and fun, but it gets a bit repetitive after a while. You know how it’s going to sound and there’s not that much variation in the sounds and how the song progresses. Windrose is an excellent band to watch live and have a beer to and dance. But to listen to the whole album at once can be a bit repetitive and your mind will wander around some times. They will play Alcatraz festival today, so be sure to capture the live experience!

Windrose is:
Francesco Cavalieri – lead vocals
Claudio Falconcini – guitars, backing vocals
Federico Meranda – keyboards
Cristiano Bertocchi – bass, backing vocals
Federico Gatti – drums

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