adg211288 It's been five years since the Italian act Fogalord served up their debut album A Legend to Believe In (2012) and asserted themselves as worthy heirs to Italy's symphonic power metal crown. It's a surprisingly long gap for a new band, but finally they're ready to follow their impressive debut album up. Masters of War (2017) marks the introduction of a new rhythm section to the band but despite that there wasn't much cause to expect any drastic changes with the band's direction.

And I suppose that's true of the end result, but that doesn't mean that Masters of War doesn't have a different feel to it compared to A Legend to Believe In. It's much less symphonic for a start, even though the keyboards of Daniele Bisi are still there in the music consistently. To compensate it uses a lot more folksy melodies than its predecessor. This is nice, but overall the band's music does feel like it's a bit less epic and cinematic. It's still characteristically Fogalord thanks in no small part to the distinctive sounding voice of Daniele Bisi, but compared to the high energy of the debut Masters of War actually seems comparatively subdued, a feeling that even the speedy power metal rhythms can't seem to do much about.

This does mean that even though the album is roughly the same length as A Legend to Believe In it really starts to flounder in its second half as the music starts to wear thin, a problem that the former didn't have. Fogalord's keeping of the epic length track The Sword's Will for last is something of a saving grace since it brings the symphonic elements back prominently but it still suffers from the key problem I'm finding the album as a whole to have: it's rather forgettable. An enjoyable enough album while you're actually listening to it, but try recalling any specific song a little while after the event. Power metal like this should have infectious, catchy choruses that really stick with you. The band's first album did because it doesn't take much for me to recall tracks like At the Gates of the Silent Storm or The Scream of the Thunder but with Masters of War I struggle to even remember the early tracks such as Rising Through the Mist of Time and Daughter of the Morning Light before I've even finished The Sword's Will!

Unfortunately not one of those albums that only opens up after repeated spins, Masters of War has to go down in my mind as a disappointing follow-up from Fogalord. It's something of a double blow considering how long we had to wait to hear more from them. I thought their debut was excellent. This one not so much. It's one of those albums where there's little reason to listen to it again so long as the first one exists.

J-Man With acts like Rhapsody of Fire and Elvenking at the forefront of its power metal scene, Italy is perhaps best known for its symphonic and folk-oriented contributions to the genre. Fogalord has not been around for as long as the aforementioned bands, but the sounds heard on their debut are likely to appeal greatly to symphonic power metal enthusiasts. A Legend to Believe In rarely deviates from the genre's formula, and while that by itself may be a drawback to some listeners, Fogalord has shown their ability to create high-class power metal on this debut.

A Legend to Believe In is pretty standard-fare symphonic power metal in most regards. The riffs are speedy, orchestrations are grand, and the overall atmosphere is seldom anything but epic and bombastic. The 'cheese' factor is strong on this album, but if you can tolerate Rhapsody of Fire, you should have no trouble appreciating Fogalord - while the music could be called cheesy without any objection, A Legend to Believe In features high quality compositions that aren't usually seen from less talented symphonic power metal acts. The musicianship and production are also at an accomplished level, so Fogalord's debut sounds highly professional from all fronts as well.

I would argue that Fogalord have made a few questionable decisions on their debut - the overly synthetic keyboard tones and pretentious lyrics being the biggest offenders - but it still manages to remain an entertaining listen for power metal fans. Although A Legend to Believe In isn't terribly innovative, it's a fine example of symphonic power metal done right.

adg211288 A Legend to Believe In is the debut full-length album by Italian symphonic power metal act Fogalord. It was released in 2012 and is a concept album following the story of “a deity of war in a land of thick mists, although the story is actually based on the history of Dany's (All, vocalist and keyboardist) hometown, Carpi, which was founded by the Lombard king Aistulf in 752 AD”.

I’ve said it before, in my review most previous to this one even (Sound Storm’s Immortalia) but if you’re on the hunt for high quality symphonic power metal, then you only need turn your attention towards the Italians. While Rhapsody of Fire may be ‘the big one’ when it comes to talking about Italian symphonic power metal, you also have high quality acts such as the aforementioned Sound Storm, as well as Ancient Bards (whose guitarists are featured on A Legend to Believe In as guests). Fogalord are a new name on the Italian symphonic power metal scene, but one that I’m sure will quickly be making a name for themselves after this fantastic debut release.

The music is all that you’d expect from a symphonic power metal release, but Fogalord do stir up the formula a bit with the inclusion of some folk influences, which are most evident in the tracks The Scream of the Thunder and The March of the Grey Army. We’re still talking a symphonic approach to the album’s folk elements, but the melody is certainly there. Otherwise we are talking perhaps typically styled symphonic power metal, but the album does have enough going for it that its strengths stand out. The biggest of these strengths being that it is a superbly well written release full of the epic qualities I look for from this type of music, something which is evident throughout but done very much in style for the album’s closing track, Of War and Resurrection, which is a fifteen plus minute piece. An epic is the perfect way to close an album of this kind in my book, and Fogalord pulled out all the stops for this one.

Another aspect of the music that makes Fogalord stand out for me is the vocals. While I think it is fair to say that Dany All has a voice that is best described as an acquired taste, it’s that ‘different’ factor about his vocals which make the album work even better for me. While his vocals may not show off the same sort of epic range than some power metal vocalists have, his voice suits Fogalord’s story telling approach perfectly, especially in the folksiest parts of the album.

Fogalord have kicked off their career the right way with A Legend to Believe In, having shown themselves both skilled at their genre and having their own identity. A Legend to Believe In flows excellently from start to finish and is easily countable among the year’s best power metal releases. An exceptional grade rating is deserved. Power metal fans, you do not want to overlook this one!

93/100

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven (http://metaltube.freeforums.org))