Entering the fray for Opera is drummer Eugene Ryabchenko (Banisher, Afgrund) and guitarist Fabio Bartoletti (ex-Hideous Dvinity, ex-Deceptionist), who sessioned on Veleno, now joins as a full-time member. But to help offset the loss of Rossi, Soprano opera singer Veronica Bordacchini has joined the band full-time. She has guested on numerous Fleshgod songs in the past, but now as a full-time member, she has a far larger presence. One thing that has stayed is the production/mix/master from Jacob Hansen (Delain, Epica, Sirenia, Volbeat, Epica, Arch Enemy), who really brings out the orchestral elements from the always fucking epic Francesco Ferrini.

Rather than mythology or history on some of the band’s past albums, Opera deals with a much more personal affair; Francisco Paoli’s near-death accident while climbing a mountain in August of 2021 where he suffered multiple fractures and had a long road to recovery. All of this comes together to form a killer album that continues what King and Veleno delivered; the band’s trademark operatic death metal, but even more dramatic gravitas.

If you don’t like Fleshgod, Opera won’t change your mind. It’s bombastic, epic, and of course, heavily orchestrated. One of the criticisms of the band’s sound was the underlying brutal tech/death metal (think fellow Italians like Bloodtruth, Vomit the Soul, and Hour of Penance, bands with which there is a heavy cross-member pollination). But as with King and Veleno, there is finally a little more restraint and variety- an issue that plagued early albums like Agony,( which I still love) Labyrinth.

With the more personal story, tracks like “Pendulum”, “Matricide 8.21”, “Till Death Do Us Part”, and to some extent “At War with My Soul” deliver slower, more poignant numbers where Bordacchini has a bigger role, especially the fitting closer “Till Death Do Us Part” and the emotional “Matricide 8.21”, where she appears to voice some sort of mother role. And indeed, as a result, the whole thing seems more….. operatic. As the album title suggests.

However, the band is still masters of blistering, blasting death metal with absolutely stunning orchestral arrangements from Ferrini. Opener “I Can Never Die”, “Bloodclock”, and particularly personal favorites “Morphine Waltz” and “Per Aspera ad Astra” (which are now up there with “The Fool”, “The Violation” and “The Betrayal” as my favorite Fleshgod songs) are fucking bombastic as heck.

As I said, this won’t convert critics of the band, but for fans, it certainly adds another album to their growing discography as it matches Veleno, King and Agony as their best offerings.

However, Veleno (‘venom’) sees some significant changes from King. The line up has shuffled with long time members Christiano Trionfera and Tommaso Ricardi leaving the fray, essentially leaving the band as a three piece with some shifting responsibilities with Francisco Paoli moving from drums to vocals and guitars. But they are aided by session members David Folchitto (Stormlord) on drums and Fabio Bartoletti (Deceptionist) on guitars, but casual listeners will be be none the wiser. Also, Jens Bogren (Amon Amarth, Amorphis, At the Gates etc),  who took the mixing mastering helm on King with stellar results, is replaced  by equally as reputable Jacob Hansen (Delain, Epica, Sirenia), (maybe due to his experience with symphonic bands?), but again, causal listeners wont be able to tell, as Veleno sounds amazing.

Musically, Veleno is the bands most varied and free flowing album, but still retains all the elements that make the band so unique. The bombastic Bach and Mozart inspired orchestration melding with brutal Italian death metal (think former bands  of Fleshgod members ,  Bloodtruth and Hour of Penance etc), is still present, but there’s a looseness and free-form progression and experimentation floating around the airtight death metal and symphonics, and the bands largest amount of slow or controlled songs in the bands discography, but they are still magnificent.

Opening with the aptly named “Fury”, the album immediately shows you the band’s  signature style from albums past with staccato blasting and fans of the bands more direct style will also enjoy second track “Carnivorous Lamb” (with its movie score quality opening orchestration), hammering “Worship and Forget” (actually one of my favorites from the album), first single, “Sugar” and “Pissing on the Score” (arguably the album’s only ‘throwaway’ track), However on Veleno, about half of the album’s songs are more varied, controlled and atmospheric, with big regal, dramatic marches and staggering, shifting time changes and moods. Songs like the gothic jaunt of “Monnalisa”, which might upset some fans and “Absinthe”,  but there are so many moments of spectacularly epic orchestration in these slower, more open tracks, they hit home harder, especially the mid point of the aforementioned “Monnalisa” and epic closing of “Absinthe”.

Then the last segment of the album with its closing  instrumental title track and two longer, much slower, moody tracks. is where the album really opens up its somber wings. “The Day We’ll Be Gone” is a full on ballad complete with female soprano duet, but it builds and swells to a stirring operatic crescendo and close. Then the 8 minute “Embrace the Oblivion”, delivers yet more movie score quality orchestration (how some of these guys haven’t been commissioned to do movie soundtracks yet is beyond me) about 3 minutes in that’s mind blowingly dramatic, and settles into a perfect album ending allargando tempo.

Another hit from Fleshgod Apocalypse despite the significant lineup shuffle, and once again, even with Kull’s vaunted emergence , showing that they are the kings of Symphonic extreme metal, and as with all prior albums, has a sure place on my year end list.

Admittedly, new producer/mixer/masterer Jens Bogren ( Amorphis, Amon Amarth, At The Gates, Kreator, Katatonia and too many others to mention ) has to take some of the credit as he has removed much of the clinical, sterile aura that has plagued the band. Everything sounds much bigger, fuller and organic, and Fleshgod perhaps learning from what he did with the last Ne Oblivscaris album, sounds far better because of it. The drums have more oomph, the guitars have more depth and breath more and the orchestration and ample choirs are far more majestic and balanced.

That said, the band themselves have also seemed to have found a balance. While certainly a large part of the album is the expected Hour Of Penance type death metal drenched with full on Carmina Burana (O fortuna) styled orchestration, there’s a much larger sense of control, actual riffage and on King there is at least 3-4 what I would even term ‘slow’ songs. Also, like Agony which had “The Violation” and ‘The Betrayal”  and a couple of other solid tracks to carry it, King has a number of just killer, standout tracks, which Labyrinth lacked.

The album follows the rise and fall of Henry the VIII-ish said King as he ascends to the throne and eventually watches court and kingdom crumble around him amid madness treachery and greed. Opener “March Royale” signals the start of his king ship with ample pomp before “In Aeternum” delivers what I would call a typical Fleshgod track; bombastic, majestic and blisteringly fast, but there is a sense of regal control and pacing. Then you get the first of the ‘slow’ tracks as “Healing Through War” thunders with a deliberate chug and discordant underlying orchestral throb, and Bogren’s magic really allows the material to carry some weight.

The you get this albums equivalent of “The Violation with “The Fool”, a haughty, Renaissance -y, chamber music on crack  number that’s down right rambunctious. The fast/slow structure continues with the moody, dare I even say somber, “Cold as Perfection”, clearly a turning point in the name sake’s story and album concept. Then there is a couple of solid filler tracks in “Mithra”, a full on bombastic blaster and “Paramour (Die Leidenschaft Bringt Leiden)” a traditional, tragic German song sung with gusto by Veronica Bordacchini.

“An The Vulture Beholds” get back on track with arguably one of the most complete songs that band has written with a orchestral and choral refrain to die for, and some really nice lead work. Then, another slow burner “Gravity”, almost brings the album to a screeching halt, but it’s again, a engaging moment in the overarching album concept. “A Million Deaths” does a little of everything, with pounding war drums, furious blasts and a really nice solo as it sort of signals the peak and crescendo of the King’s madness and glory before it all falls apart.

The album closes with “Syphilis” a twisty, discordant track that matches the diseases insanity and slow, painful death adding the widow/Queen’s somber mourning, before “King” adds the album epilogue with a simple instrumental number and a fittingly austere eulogy.

I’m seeing more and more symphonics and orchestration in death metal (Lost Soul, Against the Plagues, Sarpanitum etc), but on King, Fleshgod Apocalypse, shown they are the absolute master of the style, having finally found the perfect blend of the two and a production that lets them both breath. King is a sure fire contender for one of my favorite albums of the year.

On a side note, if you still think the band’s style of death metal is soulless and forgetful, spring the extra 5 dollars and pick up the limited edition digipack version of the album and get a bonus CD of the just the orchestration and symphonic  versions of the albums tracks.

Francesco Paoli drummer/songwriter comments: “The new album is called King. It’s a concept album. It took longer this time but I believe it’s a sign of more maturity and determination within the band. We can’t release something mediocre just because it’s enough to keep things rolling. I believe the music world requires people to work harder on their material and that is what FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE is set to do in this ‘new middle age’ era. At the end of the day, quality is the final goal, right? That’s why our expectations in our music and writing become higher every time we approach the stage of creating a new album. We always follow our feelings and try to express our state of mind through our music, and what we have in our hands now is the darkest FLESHGOD album ever. As for the concept behind the album, all I can say right now is that I think we need a good psychiatrist!”

FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE’s third album Labyrinth was released in 2013 via Nuclear Blast. The record was produced, mixed and mastered by Stefano Morabito at 16th Cellar Studio. Colin Marks (ORIGIN, KATAKLYSM) created the cover artwork, as well as several pieces for a massive inlay included within the album.

Order your copy of Labyrinth at the following location: http://smarturl.it/LabyrinthCD

Other than a conceptual theme based on the famous Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur, Labyrinth recreates everything you either loved or hated on Agony. Full-on classical, orchestral arrangements and choirs (which seem much more prevalent and effective this time) that make Dimmu Borgir look like a middle school band colliding with relentless, hyperspeed technical death metal powered by Francesco Paoli’s (ex Hour of Penance) ridiculously fast drumming. Other than maybe a couple more moments of control, it’s the exact same result, and for me that result is devastatingly perfect and beautiful brutality.

“Kingborn” starts the album with a fairly lengthy sample of a man walking along a beach and entering a large hall before erupting in truly, epic, choir-dominated, blistering Fleshgod fashion. The second track “Minotaur (The Wrath of Poseidon”)” sees the band reign things in on the album early on with a slower, marching track equivalent to “The Egoism” or “The Forsaking”, but this level of restraint is pretty rare on the album, occurring only one other time on the first part of “Towards the Sun”, somber “Epilogue” or the short instrumentals, “Labyrinth” and “Prologue”. Otherwise, you get sheer velocity and cripplingly epic symphonics like “Elegy” and “The Fall of Asterion”, uber rousing “Warpledge” (where the female operatic really work), dramatic “Pathfinder” with its real movie score feel, and the penultimate track, “Under Black Sails”, the album’s longest track which mixes a little of everything into one epic and tragic (if you know the story) end note before the title track sends things off with orchestral closure.

On the niggling side, I’m still not a huge fan of bassist Paulo Rossi’s clean croons, and at times there is just too much going on, especially with the clinical production not helping every element breathe, but it’s all piece of the overall result that is dominated by the symphonics and death metal. Also I can’t seem to pick a favorite or go-to track as with “The Violation” or “The Betrayal” from Agony, as all the tracks are pretty darn good, “Towards the Sun” comes close though, but none of those issues are a deal breaker and simply does not change the fact that Labyrinth is yet another spectacular effort. Even if this isn’t hitting me quite as impressively as Agony, it’s partly due to how Agony blindsided me and I knew what I was getting with Labyrinth, it’s still going to be an album of the year contender.

Very good. We get along with all the bands on the tour (All Shall Perish, Carnifex, Conducting From the Grave and The Contortionist) . Everyone are cool guys and we are having a great time. The weather over here has been awesome too. We are enjoying the crowds and I think we are for sure making some new fans on this tour.

You mentioned enjoying the bands you are touring with and getting new fans. To me you guys are the only ‘real’ or ‘pure’ death metal band on the bill?

Well, some fans would not call us ‘pure’ death metal nowadays as some fans say if we use keyboards we are not pure death metal and I would agree with that. But I would say we were the most death metal styled band on this tour. I feel like this package is pretty different. It is good to be on a tour with different styled bands. For example The Contortionist are very different and psychedelic, Conducting from the Grave are modern death metal with metalcore elements. I would enjoy this show as a fan as I would see  a lot of different styles.

Has there been any issues with the crowd being much more heavily leaning into deathcore or metalcore?

Of course. That’s bound to happen. But we are getting new fans because of that. Sometimes there are weird crowds where the crowd is just kind of staring out you trying to figure out what is going on. We are a really fans band with alot going on, no breakdowns and they might not be sure what to think of us.

I thought it was ironic that right now Hour Of Penance is finishing up a US tour and I thought that a bill with two brutal Italian bands would be a better overall bill.

Yeah I think there last show was this week. That would be a fun tour, we are all good friends, have shared members and we have known each other for 10 years. We actually met in New York when we both played the New England metal festival, and that was so much fun. Meeting some of your best friends on totally different tours so far from home is great fun.

Speaking of you guys and Hour of Penance, you guys seem to be the pinnacle of Italian brutality, but there are some really good second tier bands like Vomit the Soul, Gory Blister, Antropofagus and such — is Italian death metal getting ready to really break out?

I think so. What I see is that over the last two years, we are touring more outside of Italy. That would not have happened a few years ago. We all hope that this is changing as there is a lot of great music coming out of our country and the attitude towards the music is changing even in our own country, where it is hard to be playing death metal.

Lets get on to Agony. On Oracles and on the EP, Mafia, the classical elements sort of spread around and injected here and there to start or stop songs or a bridge in the middle. But in Agony it’s full on mixed in. What was the decision making process to make that change?

We wanted to evolve. We have a mission in our mind about the vision of the band’s sound. It took a little while to fully make that choice because you always have doubts when you want to make a change to the structure of the band. We needed a full time keyboard player, which isn’t a choice you make in one day. That decision was the natural thing to do. A lot of people think that when we switched to Nuclear Blast, that they made us or asked to make the switch, but it was actually the opposite. They heard what we were like before and when we told them we wanted to do a symphonic album, they were like, ‘really? er… OK’.

Do you see staying with this current sound for the next album or changing things up again?

I think so. I can’t say for sure. The symphonic elements are a major part of our sound and also from composition point of view, the way we use those parts where we start with the symphonics and the drums then add everything else, we cant really change that. We add the guitars vocals and bass as part of the orchestra , as part of the ensemble. Our main goal is to sound like a symphony, but a death metal one.

Speaking of symphonies, bands like Metallica, Cradle of Filth and Dimmu Borgir have moved from keyboards and started using full or partial live  orchestra’s instead of synths. Have you considered such a move?

We would love to work with a full orchestra. A real one. That’s a challenge for a musician to make those work together. But I don’t think we have anyone in Italy we can use, but I’m sure we can find someone. Classical music is part of the culture and history of Italy, so we should be able to find someone.

Going back to the Mafia EP, I loved the cover of At The Gates’ “Blinded By Fear”. Any plans for any other covers in the future?

There are some possibilities. We don’t really plan anything definitive, we just kind of talk about it.  We would love to cover Rammstein. But it’s hard. There are legal issues and stuff. We are always interested in covering bands we love.  That’s why we did “Blinded By Fear”, we are always curious to hear how songs sound in our way.

What has been the response from the other guys on the tour who are all American bands with a more core based sound?

There is a great vibe on this tour. We all understand each other and get along. All the guys have been great to us. We have gotten lots of praise from everyone. We never expected this kind of repsonse and kindness from these kinds of bands.

Whats up next after this tour?

We are almost done here, this is almost the last date. Then we fly back to Italy for a little break. Then we will play a moving outdoor metal festival in Europe. It’s like eight festivals. This year there are bands like Blind Guardian and Hypocrisy. It’s our first real ‘big’ outdoor festival.

Have you noticed ay major difference between the European and American audiences?

American audiences are more easy going, they have more fun in a way. They enjoy the festivals and they love all of the bands. There are good crowds in places you would not expect. In Europe things are more specific A power metal festival, a death metal festival. I think European fans need to be more convinced than American crowds.

When can we expect some new material? Do you guys write on the road or need to go home to write?

We are busy touring the rest of the year. We can’t write on the road. We need a break to write. Especially with those symphonic parts, we need the equipment and such to be able to write that.

When writing those symphonic parts, is any thought given to how they sound like in a live setting?

Yeah, we try to take in that aspect. Even though it’s not easy. We try to make the arrangements sound so they will sound good live, sometimes though you realize some songs just won’t work live and some sound better.

What does your set list consist of? Mix of old and new?

We are trying to focus on the newer stuff. We will be playing “The Hypocrisy”, “The Forsaken”, “The Violation and Thru Our Scars” from Mafia. We tour the US pretty often so the last time we toured we played stuff from Oracles. We don’t want to repeat ourselves on tours.

 http://www.myspace.com/fleshgodapocalypse

Imagine, metaphorically speaking, that two high speed trains are careening towards each other on a unavoidable collision course. One train is Origin‘s ultra technical, brutal, but intelligent form of death metal. The other train is Sigh and their over the top orchestral symphonics and theatrics. BAM!!!! They collide, each train melting and melding into the other in a twisted, fiery, explosive wreckage of both styles.

So Italy’s Fleshgod Apocalypse have always had some form of classical, orchestral element in their top notch tech death metal, but on their intense  debut and last year’s blistering EP, it has mostly been used in controlled, transitional or introductory style here and there. But on Agony, its not tinkering keys or a violin moment here or there. The band has completely incorporated full on orchestration  into their death metal (strings, horns, woodwind, everything! The only thing missing s a full baroque choir), much like Scrambled Defuncts but much less discordant,  chaotic and unhinged. It’s much more epic, movie score-like and majestic, like a full Philharmonic Orchestra was backing up the band. If my Origin (or take any other top tier tech death metal act like Decrepit Birth, Obscura, Gorod, etc), meets Sigh (or Dimmu Borgir) analogy does not fully explain it, then I’m not sure how else to convey it…other than its absolutely fucking magnificent.

Those that have not see the video for the album’s first single ‘The Violation” should do so immediately, because basically the rest of the album is just as mind-blowing and over the top. From the dramatic,  movie quality introduction of “Temptation” to instrumental, breath catching closer “Agony” everything in between is sheer, unbridled, brilliance; almost relentlessly so — which may be a gripe for some. For me, and I imagine to most listeners, Agony will be a game changer; that rare modern classic that we’ll be talking about for years to come.

While each track certainly has  the same basic, merciless percussive template as heard on “The Violation”, and I imagine some will claim all the songs sound alike, there’s just enough variety and structure and tasteful melodic solos and bridges on the likes of ‘The Hypocrisy”, “The Imposition” ‘The Deceit” (yes, that that is a huge orchestral death metal breakdown about halfway though),  or “The Oppressing” to keep you listening for what will be next. Personally, I can listen to this album, over and over and over again and get goosebumps every single time or simply mouth ‘wow’ in silent admiration for every single song.

Be it the  above songs, the aforementioned segment of “The Deceit”, the stern, militant march and brief  female soprano of “The Egoism”, “The Violation”‘s unbridled fury, crippling, epic brilliance that starts  and ends “The Betrayal” (seriously, just…WOW! It brings a tear to my eye), or somber, restrained mood of ‘The Forsaking” (Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” anyone?), my jaw never left the floor. The only other minor gripe I foresee with most listeners will be the occasional (mostly in a few choruses) clean, operatic croons an unhinged spoke words of bassist Paolo Rossi, but it’s not a deal breaker, and not as used on the album’s latter stages.

To sum it up again, Agony is truly a special, utterly mind blowing album and I’d be surprised if this isn’t my album of the year for 2011 when the year is all said and done.

Bra-fucking -vo!

Consisting of three full new songs, a cover and an instrumental piece, Mafia might be the most intense 23 minutes of music of 2010. With the percussive back bone of ex-Hour of Penance’s member Francesco Paoli delivering throttling blast beats, the three new tracks are blisteringly intense with opener “Thru Our Scars” literally exploding from the speakers with the bands patent injections of classical music and insanely fast arpeggios. Heck, they even deliver some falsetto vocals for a change up. The band’s use of classical injections is utilized perfectly once again. Rather than over the top levels of Scrambled Defuncts insanity, they’re used more in transition as heard on the album’s 7-minute centerpiece “Abyssal” (based on Sicilian Mafia mob member Toto Riina). The transition at the end of the song into the utterly savage “Conspiracy of Silence” (even with more clean vocals) is simply epic.

The cherry on top of this little EP (the 3-minute classical, instrumental/piano title track not withstanding) is a simply brutal take on At The Gates’ classic track, “Blinded by Fear”. After the immediately recognizable opening sample and quote, Fleshgod Apocalypse tear into the rack with a feral blast beat ridden abandon, that is skin peelingly, ‘holy fuck’ intense. The ending title track is an appropriately placed refrain to a killer little EP that shows Fleshgod Apocalypse are not a gimmick based one trick pony. Mafia EP is a nice little tech death appetizer before the new Decrepit Birth drops.

2008 saw tech death metal explode with the likes of Origin, Decrepit Birth, Brain Drill, Trigger the Bloodshed, Severed Savior, Psycroptic and such; a year hard to top right? Well, 2009 already has seen brilliant releases from Obscura and Ulcerate as well as solid releases from Inevitable End, Gory Blister, Trigger the Bloodshed and this fantastic debut album from Italy’s Fleshgod Apocalypse.

And that’s before the new Gorod drops.

Though the band plays the expected intricate, yet brutal form of technical death metal that many of the bands mentioned already have perfected and Fleshgod Apocalypse are certainly as good as anything on that list – including the Obscura. But what sets Fleshgod Apocalypse apart from other tech death acts is the inclusion of more neo-classically inspired structures and guitar work and the injection of some majestic classical orchestral moments and solos into the songs. These well placed classical/orchestral moments reminded me a lot of The Monolith Deathcults’s (criminally underrated) Trivmvirate.

These stellar moments (“In Honour of Reason”, “As Tyrants Fall”,  “Sophistic Demise”, standouts “Requiem in RJ Minore” and “Retrieving My Carcass”, “Oracles”) also give the swathe of destruction some hint of intellect and individuality which is good as Oracles hasn’t quite got the sheer memorability or catchy, melodic factor of Cosmogenesis or Diminishing Between Worlds as only “Embodied Deception” and “Infection of the White Throne” seemed to stick beyond the classical moments and solos on a purely riff based, tech death metal basis. That being said the bulk of the material is still absolutely breathtaking, in both savagery and complexity and likely as good as anything you will hear in 2009. Drummer Francesco Paoli (Hour of Penance) is particularly stunning and the production is ridiculously tight and the only elements that are remotely average is the gruff monotone vocal delivery of bassist Paulo Rossi and his virtually unheard bass work (other than a brief spurt in “Embodied Deception”), but that maybe simply be a side effect of the bass work on Obscura’s Cosmogenesis.

Even with those relatively minor complaints, Oracles absolutely blew me away with it’s mix of savage brutality and intricate, classical undertones and while Oracles lacks the sheer mindfuckery of Ulcerate’s Everything Is Fire, both albums, along with Cosmomgenesis will arguably be considered the very best of 2009s death metal efforts, technical or otherwise.