VIRTUAL SYMMETRY – Veils Of Illumimation

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8.0

New full-length for Virtual Symmetry, an Italian-Swiss band active since 2009, for which the title “Veils Of Illumination” was chosen.
Two years ago, the choice to title an album simply with one's own moniker, in a certain sense, marked the idea of ​​representing the very essence of the group, the desire to give lively and direct expression to one's style; However, it seems to us that this new job represents in a certain way a turning point in their career.
Already as regards the line-up, beyond the foreseeable replacement of drummer Alfonso Mocerino (who, as will be remembered, had suddenly left Temperance where singer Marco Pastorino also plays, raising some doubts about the reasons for this choice , for which we believe the desire to collaborate again between the two is quite unlikely, at least in the short term) with the drummer Andrea Giannangeli, we instead find something new on the keyboards, where Ruben Paganelli has taken the place of Mark Well done. As far as we are concerned, it is in a certain sense a surprise, because if we had already appreciated Ruben as a saxophonist in previous albums of the band, we now find him as a keyboard virtuoso, truly excellent with carpets, orchestrations, Hammond inserts, but also splendid piano arpeggios and explosive keytar and synth solos. In short, an undoubtedly apt choice for this musician, who fit perfectly into a band that he evidently already knew very well.
Virtual Symmetry thus truly manage to capitalize on all the experience accumulated with previous works: their style combines a prog metal attitude, with influences ranging from classical music to cinematographic music, together with the exquisite melodic taste of singer Marco Pastorino.
Furthermore, if in the past, among the many qualities of the band, we had also considered how sometimes it perhaps showed a tendency to overdo it a bit with instrumental digressions or with an excess of themes that were not always well blended within some tracks, in this new album we must recognize that the problem does not arise at all. The songs are in fact certainly complex, very articulated, but you never have the feeling that there is something out of place: the tracks progress fluently and naturally, passing from one theme to another, with tempo changes, splendid solos (as well as that of Paganelli, obviously also by the guitarist Valerio Aesir Villa), instrumental interludes or captivating refrains, always with great mastery and with absolutely solid and well-conceived songwriting.
Furthermore, it should be highlighted that the virtuosic parts never constitute a mere display of technique but are always perfectly placed in a sound architecture of great emotional impact. Just listen for example to a track like “Whispers Of The Ancient”, the most melodic song on the album, where Paganelli has once again carved out some space for his sax, with several absolutely thrilling moments. However, these are not isolated cases, because all the tracks are characterized by a profound interpenetration between brilliant passages and varied and highly intense sound spectrums.
The start of the tracklist is very good with two beautiful tracks such as “Heart's Resonance” and “Canvas Of Souls”, but it continues even better with excellent songs, such as “Blades Of Inner Battles”, “Echoes Of Silence”, “The Quest Within” , “Altar Of The Self”, although in fact the real gem is made up of the final suite, “Eightfold Path”, a piece of approximately twenty-one minutes, divided into various movements, truly capable of transporting the listener into a fascinating and engaging musical journey.
The only aspect that in our opinion could have been a little more exalted in some passages was perhaps to try to show a little more determination.
All things considered, however, “Veils Of Illumination” is a really good album, which we believe can be considered the best so far in the Italian-Swiss group's discography, both for the quality and maturity of the songwriting, and for the executive quality and an amalgam that the musicians demonstrate they have achieved, without neglecting the excellent mixing and mastering work by Simone Mularoni.