Fazermint's Album of the Week: Altair - Descending: A Devilish Comedy (2017)

Hey ho(e), and welcome to the Album of the Week - a weekly post where we shine some light on lesser known albums, forgotten gems... or whatever we feel like. Let's go.

Band: Altair (Italy)
Album: Descending: A Devilish Comedy (2017)
Genre: Progressive Power Metal
Stream: N/A
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Coming at you this week with a recent album from the Italian boys Altair. Sadly it's not available for streaming anywhere, but there are a number of singles available: Seed of Violence - Flame of Knowledge - Limbo - Seven

Descending: A Devilish Comedy is a concept album. I can't really tell what it's about exactly, descending into hell or something like that. Their debut was a fairly straightforward power metal album with obligatory guest vocals by Fabio Leone. This second album ventures a lot further into progpower territory. And you know me, I like that. Still, I don't think it's my bias talking when I say this album is decidedly much more solid. It's definitely a breath of fresh air after all the mediocre releases lately. The material is by no means groundbreaking, but it does what it sets out to do with aptitude. The vocalist is pretty good, and shows a decent amount of versatility. He frequently goes from raspy and aggressive to smooth and clean, and occasionally breaks out a solid power metal scream. The songs have a bit of a symphonic flair to them as well, even dabbling into theatrical stuff once or twice.

The instrumental intro and the subsequent 'Path of Worms' belong together, as a part of the intro returns in the song at some point. The transition between them is a little abrupt, but whatever. 'Path of Worms' is a great opener with quick and crunchy riffs, as well as interesting song building and a nice dose of vocal variety. 'Limbo' is a more straightforward affair, perfectly serviceable with the exception of an iffy guitar tone at 2:27 - 2:34. 'Seven' is one of the more creative songs on the album, switching between fairly standard vocal-oriented midpacer to wacky riffs and solos. 'Godless' is another straightforward and solid progpower song with some good keyboard leads. 'Seed of Violence' packs a decent punch, good choice for lead single. 'Flame of Knowledge' goes a little bit into flower metal territory, being relatively tame except during solos. Still enjoyable, of course. 'Frozen Graves' is an okay track, probably one of the weaker ones. And the pesky guitar tone returns at 3:27 - 3:46... The album closes with 'A Lesson Before Ascending', a really fun track - this is where it gets "theatrical" at around 3 minutes. Sounds like it could have been part of a play.

TL;DR: Good power metal.

Favorite tracks: Path of Worms, Godless