I state that I am a fan and a musician of progressive rock, in fact I wrote reviews on "Prog Archives" since many years; in general I like Metal a little less, but I find very interesting the progressive parts of some metal bands. I know WIND ROSE because they live in my town, Pisa (yes, the one with the tower!), and I must say, despite being them basically a power metal band, this band has a very strong progressive component. I have heard from a few days this their first album and I loved it! I already knew the 3 tracks of their “Demo 2010” (Majesty, Oath to betray and Led by light), which are reproduced in the album with new arrangements: these three songs are definitely attractive, powerful and melodic, very well played and with breaks in pure progressive mold. In particular, the central parts of "Majesty" and "Led by light" (which is very different from the Demo) are really exciting. The rest of the album, based on a fantasy story, told through interludes narrated, has two power style songs, such as "Endless prophecy" and "IV vanguard", which are very good and imaginative, and a song in folk style, "Siderion", absolutely exceptional and innovative: in some ways reminds me of "E’ festa-Celebration" by PFM, but with a charge and a very impressive pace, and I think that this "Siderion" may represent a workhorse of the band in concert! No one could miss in the album some quieter and more melodic songs: "Son of a thousand nights" is a beautiful and very passionate ballad, with many references to Symphony X and a final poignant; "Moon-tear sanctuary" is instead an acoustic song, almost in Jethro Tull style, with an atmosphere and a melodic taste truly impressive. Then there's the epic finale, "Close to the end", which contains all the features of this band: melody, imagination and power. In short, a great debut for this young band (they are all in their twenties); they certainly have some things to improve, especially in some vocal parts and some guitar solos, but despite this, “Shadows over Lothadruin” is one of the most beautiful albums of recent times in the field of metal and beyond. 9,5 / 10