Influenced by bands such as In Flames and Anathema, the music of Nottingham’s Illuminatus is an interesting breed of progressive metal. Instrumentally the music is quite interesting, vocally however the music can at times be a little lacking. Listening to this album reminds me a little of Fightstar’s ‘Grand Unification’ album sometimes, it’s very similar in terms of sound I feel. The problem is that Fightstar did this a lot better, the music isn’t bad but it’s not particularly great either.
The title of this ‘The Wrath of Lambs’ album had led me to believe that this album would be a little more heavy than this, more energetic also. I had an image of this band before I listened, an image that Illuminatus here fail to live up to. The music is quite tiresome, not enough really goes on within the sound in order to maintain your interest throughout the albums duration. The music is at times quite enjoyable, always however you feel as though the band is holding back a little with their sound. The music is tame and yet you feel that there is a ferocious force lurking within this band just waiting to be unleashed. Never does the music ever really let rip here, always Illuminatus are quite timid in their approach and the music lacks excitement and life.
Progressive metal of this sort if done well can sound excellent. The music of Illuminatus does not, it’s very mediocre and you just get the distinct impression that the bands members are not putting their all into this album. Illuminatus have an interesting line-up in that one of their members is English, one Spanish, one German, and one Italian; the problem here is that each member does not take their musical background and inject it into the heart and soul of this band. The music could be so much better than this, yes the vocals aren’t always excellent but at times front man Julio Taylor sounds fully competent in his approach. There are some sounds that his voice simply cannot produce, others however he executes excellently and if each member of this band works on their strengths then I feel that Illuminatus could well have a decent album in them yet.
Whether or not an impressive album will be released by this band remains to be seen; this ‘The Wrath of the Lambs’ album is okay but nothing more than this. Mediocrity will get you nowhere in the world of music, you need something about you in the world of music if you’re to get noticed as a band and producing the sound that Illuminatus does at current I fear that this band shan’t be progressing very far at all. ‘Wargasm’ is perhaps the best track that the band has to offer with this album, even this track is severely flawed however. Great moments of promise are evident on this album, particularly when the music of Illuminatus is at its most aggressive; never does this band sustain the strength long enough however for ‘The Wrath of the Lambs’ to be considered a particularly worthwhile purchase.
Label: Anthill/Pinnacle
Release Date: 12th May 2008
Rating:
UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.