Maybe I should just start a series of these. Since ‘Hesperia’ didn’t really do anything for me, I initially didn’t pay much attention to Stormlord’s sixth album ‘Far’. Big mistake. ‘Far’ rivals ‘Mare Nostrum’ as the Italians’ best album and is undoubtedly the next step in their evolution from extreme to epic heavy metal. As this transition is so gradual, I doubt if the album would alineate many Stormlord fans, but they may just gain a couple that would usually stay away from extreme metal as a whole. That is the mark of a good band that doesn’t neatly fit any existing categories.

Stylistically, Stormlord has never sounded this close to actual epic heavy metal. Not that they sound anything like Manilla Road or the likes, as the seven-string guitars, David Folchitto’s occasional blastbeats and Cristiano Borchi’s extremely harsh vocal performance keeps the music firmly in a contemporary idiom. But the grand, sweeping orchestrations and the heroic guitar melodies give Stormlord more depth than bands with similar origins. Also, ‘Far’ contains significantly more clean male vocals than any of the band’s earlier works. Initially, I was disappointed that the fantastic deep, gothic voice of guitarist Gianpaolo Caprino was once again severely underutilized, but Marco Palazzi’s semi-operatic guest vocals certainly increase the epic nature of the overall sound.

For those who fear that Stormlord has lost its edge: don’t. While many bands that fit the aforementioned description have the guitars drowned out by the orchestrations, Stormlord is still very much a guitar-driven band on ‘Far’. Keyboard player Riccardo Studer is omnipresent, he even co-mixed the album, but his lush orchestrations primarily take on a supportive role behind the guitars. Even his two solo compositions, ‘Sherden’ and ‘Invictus’, aren’t vehicles for his skills. The former is carried by keyboards melodically, but is also heavy and forceful, while the latter may actually be the perfect song for old school Stormlord fans to start with.

While metal albums of the more epic variety tend to be best listened to in one sitting, ‘Far’ does have its share of stand-out tracks. ‘Crimson’ was an immediate favorite due to its remarkably blunt, aggressive riffing and rhythms, although it does feature some compositional sophistication later on. ‘Mediterranea’ has a brilliant structure that gives its riffs room to breathe, while also featuring Caprino’s vocals prominently, while the almost tranquil opening of the title track has something of a ‘Twilight Of The Gods’-era Bathory feel. ‘Vacuna’ and the somewhat more open ‘Levante’ are an excellent finale. ‘Cimmeria’ is a more ambitious, almost proggy track and definitely one of the crowning achievements of ‘Far’.

So yes, while I would have preferred an album that Gianpaolo Caprino had a more prominent vocal role on, ‘Far’ leaves nothing to be desired stylistically and compositionally. The album shows a band refusing to stand still and make the same album twice in a row. And although that is admirable, I do hope the next Stormlord album has more than a bit in common with ‘Far’ in terms of its compositional approach. The niche that the Italian sextet found for itself suits them perfectly. ‘Far’ is at the very least on par with their previous masterpiece ‘Mare Nostrum’, but it may just be a hair better.

Recommended tracks: ‘Crimson’, ‘Cimmeria’, ‘Mediterranea’, ‘Far’