OVERMASTER – Madness Of War

This is yet another batch of war stories. Ever since man took arms and fought his first battle against another human being, years before our current war crises, it was and it is madness. This is the Madness Of War. Metal has always been the tip of the sword when it came to a long range of war stories, part true and part fiction, than any other musical genre (well most of them ignore painful subjects). As many that came before them, the new emerging Overmaster from Italy came forth with their own battles and their horrors… no peace on this release.

Overmaster is the baby of Argentinean vocalist, Gus Gabaro. In the past, between 2001 and 2006, Gabaro fronted the huge Italian monster, White Skull. After his departure from White Skull, Gabaro formed Overmaster as an aggressive European Power Metal entity with the assistance of other experienced Italian musicians from White Skull, Skylark, Doomsword and Edge Of Forever. Together, the band and the great production crew of Fear studios, worked and released a debut album that gave another meaning to the word “War”, on its rough side and on its lesser brutal aspects.

Madness Of War is not the type of speedy Power music with no bloody teeth. This album is like an untamed beast. With its utter heaviness it shows a true form of squeezing the life out of something with ample beatings. Along with melodic, rhythmic soaring vocals, that helped to create flowing material, there are the guitars and bass, which maintain the heart of the album’s supremacy with strong melodies. Among the toughness, there are the softer spots of acoustics, sing along like anthems of Metal and loving touches of keyboards (because it does not have to be all around brutality right?) that created a wonderful metallic picture. If you would like similarities, Overmaster is the Italian adaptation of Mystic Prophecy or Firewind or the heavier/crude version of Hammerfall. As for influences, it seems like everything has melodic edges, yet with a sense of power, and of course the European style of Iron Maiden and Helloween.

Overmaster created a musical piece that shares both 80s influences with bits of modernity to provide them with the tips of heaviness to charge them up. Madness Of War says as it was said in the past, “Hell is a war, what is it good for?” However, this album bears the message with a much stronger case in hand. This is a trip through time, through old and present wars, this is what the artists have to state about them.

The best offered tracks from this one are: “Marble King”, “Children Of The Sand”, “Efialths”, “Revolution World” and “Spartan Warriors”. Nevertheless, you can enjoy the entire album because it’s one of the best debuts yet.