From the mere mention of Limb Music, anyone who is familiar with the genre can hazard a guess that Wonders’ debut will have something to do with Melodic/Progressive/Power Metal to varying degrees, but maybe before we get into that there needs to be a bit of background to this new Italian band. Well, firstly, they’re not totally new, they are basically the current line-up (plus one) of Even Flow who have released a couple of very credible Progressive Metal albums in the last ten years. So – Even Flow’s (and Wonders) line up are the Lunesu brothers on drums and guitar with vocalist Marco Pastorino (Temperance, Virtual Symmetry, Ex-Secret Sphere, ex-Shining Fury) with fellow Temperance bassist Luca Negro. But to become Wonders the ‘plus one’ is the addition of former Firewind (and many other bands) Keyboardist Bob Katsionis. This union takes the roots of Even Flow, polishes them up and sends them back out into the world a more catchy and melodic force.
I have to admit that I don’t hear anything particularly unique or ground-breaking that sets Wonders apart from some others in this style, but I don’t think that’s the bands goal and it’s not to the detriment of Wonders’ music at all. This is a high quality Melodic/Symphonic Metal album that utilizes Progressive elements to keep the arrangements fresh, but also relies on memorable vocal and musical hooks and big choruses, Vocally, unlike in Temperance, Pastorino handles 100% of the vocal duties, showing his Italian flamboyance a little more as well as displaying a variation of delivery to perfectly showcase the melodies. He stays within a mid-ish range, which is all the songs need as there is plenty going on within the music also vying for your attention.
There is an honesty and a familiarity about Wonders that harks back to the Italian Melodic/Power/Progressive Metal of 20 years ago, evoking memories of Vision Divine, Labyrinth or Secret Sphere (naturally…) as well as Ivanhoe, Lanfear or Pagan’s Mind right up to Seventh Wonder and Stratovarius. The keyboards and guitar work well together to immediately hook you in, driven by a solid, tight rhythm section. There’s some fabulous riffs and musical hooks throughout with plenty of memorable vocal lines that give the songs more instant impact, allowing the tracks to grow in depth with further listens. On the whole this is a very enjoyable and impressive debut that manages to straddle the musical decades effortlessly and balances Progressive, Power and Melody very well indeed.
(8/10 Andy Barker)
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