Fictio Solemnis is a Symphonic Blackened Death Metal band from Italy. On January 27th, 2022, the band released their independent debut EP album, (A)ster.
Introduction:
Fictio Solemnis, (A)ster: This review will evaluate every aspect of the album, from its intricate musical composition to its production. Our analysis will provide valuable insights to help you determine if this album is worth adding to your collection.
The First Three Sins of (A)ster
Let’s start by discussing the first three sins of Fictio Solemnis and their album, (A)ster.
The First Sin, The Strings/Keys: Features fast and dark progressive fretwork and interplay of technicality & complexity. The guitars’ fluid rhythm changes and orchestral elements, add a unique dimension to the music. The Second Sin, The Vocals: A force to be reckoned with, featuring crazy and fierce vocals that span a range of tones. The Third Sin—The Percussions: Delve into a world of enormous rumbling beats, fills, strikes, and pacing rhythmic patterns, adding a layer of intense energy to the music.
The Fourth Sin: Overall Discussion: With symphonic parts that echo the grandeur and anger of Fleshgod Apocalypse
The listener is thrust into the intense world of (A)ster when the play button is pressed. The opening piece, Intro, sets the stage with its incantation, choir, and ambience-orchestral intro. This is followed by the second track, Ophiucus, and the remaining four pieces, each one a whirlwind of sound. The music is like a gust of wind, at times gentle and at times fierce, carrying with it a complex and brutal instrumentation and fierce vocals that are sure to excite even the most jaded metal fan.
(A)ster is a truly unique album that not only delves into the depths of Symphonic Blackened Death, but also seamlessly incorporates the elements of black metal, death metal, thrash metal, prog metal and classical/orchestral music. With symphonic parts that echo the grandeur and anger of Fleshgod Apocalypse, the technicality force of Xenofaction, and the brutalisation of Desource. The album creates an awe-inspiring, brutal, and complex musical metaverse that is sure to intrigue even the most seasoned metal fan.
At the same time, the listener will encounter the whole piece as this unpredictable composition, where one will experience moments where each song captures this captivating of being (sometimes) dark, gloomy, destruction in energy, fast, heavy/brutal. Grace and grandeur of orchestral/symphonic parts embedded in the power of contemporary of music, (short moments of) soft/tranquil, complex/technical sections. Which also utilises various compositions such as; excellent fretwork and interplay of technicality and complexity of the guitars with fluid rhythm changes (where one will find some rapidly changing tempos/fast-paced rhythm of ‘tech deathcore’ buried with the chords) and progressive passages, orchestration sections/parts compose by Francesco Ferrini from the band Fleshgod Apocalypse.
With crazy and fierce vocals with various tones, operatic female vocals, complexity battering of the drums (provided by two different guest drums), different tempos/moods, spoken words, and clean acoustic sections. While providing and delivering an overall fruit of art and well-executed in production, songwriting/composing of the piece.
(A)ster is a well-written release with a crisp sound topped off with exceptional creativity and music that hits all points of being complex/technical, brutal, fast, heavy, graceful, grandeur and entertaining music from the moment of pressing that play button.
The album comes to an end with the last song, Outro. Which welcomes the listener, with a drum and ambience instrumental soundscape, perfectly closing the album.
We want to give a shoutout to Daniele Boccali for letting us review his band Fictio Solemnis and his album, (A)ster. Now, we’re going to wrap it up by talking about the final three sins and concluding the review.
The Last Three Sins
Let’s discuss the last three sins, our thoughts on Fictio Solemnis and their album, (A)ster.
The Fifth Sin, The Memorabilia: Is that for us, (A)ster is an expertly crafted release that showcases meticulous attention to detail and devilmanship artistry.
The Sixth Sin, The Artwork:
It is fantastic, with its eye-catching ‘blood moon’ and colour spectrum of being dark, and speaks about the concept of the “spiritual love for God, the Angels and all good people” theme (“the sun will turn into darkness, and the moon into blood before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes”)
The Seventh Sin, Disrelish:
Nothing to disrelish within the musical spectrum of Fictio Solemnis, and their album (A)ster.
This concludes the Fictio Solemnis, (A)ster review.
Track-Listing:
- Intro
- Ophiucus
- Ouroboros
- The Name Of Light
- Astera
- Outro
Fictio Solemnis is:
- Andrea Bruni – vocals and lyrics
- Daniele Boccali – rhythm guitars
- Edoardo Casini – lead guitars
- Alessandro Cupici – drums on tracks 3 & 4
- Norman Ceriotti – drums on tracks 2 & 5
- Alessandro Travetti– bass
- Francesco Ferrini – FX & Orchestration
