Apostolica (ITA)

[Horex]

Apostolica - Haeretica Ecclesia (2021)













Year : 2021
Style : Melodic Power Metal
Country : Italy
Audio : 320 kbps + all scans
Size : 132 mb

Bio:

Founded by some of the finest musicians of the international scene, Apostolica is a new project combining the modern-day European power metal sound with a subtle anticlerical visual & lyrical content.Heavy metal heretics Apostolica have founded a new cult based on a mysterious, intriguing image, a bombastic and pristine sound, ultra-catchy riffs and plenty of unforgettable hooks.The prominent style of the new album is a dark Teutonic power metal, enriched with church choirs and thunderous organs and featuring epic orchestrations and majestic, powerful vocal lines.Drawing inspiration from the obscure history of the Apostolics (a Christian sect founded in Northern Italy during the late 13th century by Gherardo Segarelli), 'Animae Haeretica' delves deep into the sinister tale of this enigmatic movement.

Album:

Take a modern Power Metal like Sabaton, Orden Ogan or Warkings, add some pathos and pseudo-church organs lavishly like Powerwolf and some calls for apocalypse with a little bit of heresy to lyrics like Ghost or named Powerwolf. Mix it well, add cassocks with masks (almost like early Ghost) and call it resonantly using Metallica/Apocalyptica formula. Did it? All right, so now you have a new band called Apostolica with their debut album Haeretica Ecclesia.There is no information about the band at all like it popped up out of nowhere. Everything is so classified that even press-release says: “…hyped yet mysterious project featuring some of the finest musicians of the international heavy metal scene.” There are no names here as well, just biblical monikers: Ezekiel (vocals), Isaia (guitars), Jonas (bass) and Malachia (drums). A thoughtful outfit is hiding their exterior: nice masks, long clothes with a clerical hint and corpse paint. The main theme for their music is the “Book Of Revelation” (aka Apocalypse). With this, musicians said they revisited it in a modern-day key but as for me they just chose the path of simplicity. However, it doesn’t really matters.Ok, but what is Apostolica musically? As I’ve already said, it is a modern Power Metal with very wide use of keyboards (which are dominating in music usually) and incredible amount of pathos, just like the concept needs. Musical patterns can be hardly called “exquisite”, they are pretty simple and sometimes generic. All ten songs in the album have the same structure: smooth verses, melodic choruses and catchy bridges. Nevertheless, it works well altogether and you don’t want to turn the music off while it can be easily said which note the band will play next.Actually, it can be easily said what the listener should expect in the next 50 minutes when he will listen to the opener “Sanctus Spiritus”: intro with organ and gloomy choirs, powerful drums, smooth guitar riffs, relatively simple solo and melodic, catchy chorus. Overall, it’s rhythmical and quite buoyant, choirs with Latin lyrics add some mystically clerical vibes which goes really well along with Ezekiel’s hoarse vocals. For the great justice I need to say that there is some variety and playing techniques in this album, like a drum pattern in “Pollution Is My Name” (double kick suddenly) and pretty good Neo Classic guitar solo in “Famine”.However, it will be hard to get rid of the feeling “I’ve heard this already” when you’ll listen to Haeretica Ecclesia: “The Sword Of Sorrow” sounds quite close to Sabaton, especially when Ezekiel sings with the rumbling “R”, while bass in “Thanatos” intro obviously refers us to “Heaven And Hell” (or “Warriors Of The World”). There are very familiar melodies in “Famine” and “The Dusk Is Coming” intros as well but I can’t really recall what it is. Nevertheless, I can’t say there is a plagiarism in Apostolica‘s music. There are some generic patterns, some common Power Metal things and let’s not forget about pretty narrow genre scope. I agree, some songs sound quite similar but I personally can live with it.You know, I can be pretty much ironic and describe Apostolica‘s music with some leniency but I also need to commend the band: these guys know how to make music that will stuck in your head for days! Just listen to the first single “No More Place In Hell”, great bridge in “Pollution Is My Name” or the main guitar riff in “The Dusk Is Coming”. I won’t conceal, I’ve listened to Haeretica Ecclesia for a couple of days and really enjoyed it. I’m sure that many Power Metal fans will do the same. Well, that’s interesting what will the band do further, especially when they signed a multi-album deal with a known label.

Line-Up:

Ezekiel - Vocals
Isaia - Guitar
Jonas - Bass
Malachia - Drums

Tracklist:

01. Sanctus Spiritus
02. The Sword Of Sorrow
03. Come With Us
04. Thanatos
05. Pollution Is My Name
06. No More Place In Hell
07. Famine
08. The Doom
09. The Dusk Is Coming
10. Redemption




Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/

[Horex]

Apostolica - Haeretica Ecclesia (Japan Edition) (2021)













Year : 2021 (Japan Edition)
Style : Melodic Power Metal
Country : Italy
Audio : 320 kbps + all scans
Size : 132 mb

Bio:

Founded by some of the finest musicians of the international scene, Apostolica is a new project combining the modern-day European power metal sound with a subtle anticlerical visual & lyrical content.Heavy metal heretics Apostolica have founded a new cult based on a mysterious, intriguing image, a bombastic and pristine sound, ultra-catchy riffs and plenty of unforgettable hooks.The prominent style of the new album is a dark Teutonic power metal, enriched with church choirs and thunderous organs and featuring epic orchestrations and majestic, powerful vocal lines.Drawing inspiration from the obscure history of the Apostolics (a Christian sect founded in Northern Italy during the late 13th century by Gherardo Segarelli), 'Animae Haeretica' delves deep into the sinister tale of this enigmatic movement.

Album:

Take a modern Power Metal like Sabaton, Orden Ogan or Warkings, add some pathos and pseudo-church organs lavishly like Powerwolf and some calls for apocalypse with a little bit of heresy to lyrics like Ghost or named Powerwolf. Mix it well, add cassocks with masks (almost like early Ghost) and call it resonantly using Metallica/Apocalyptica formula. Did it? All right, so now you have a new band called Apostolica with their debut album Haeretica Ecclesia.There is no information about the band at all like it popped up out of nowhere. Everything is so classified that even press-release says: “…hyped yet mysterious project featuring some of the finest musicians of the international heavy metal scene.” There are no names here as well, just biblical monikers: Ezekiel (vocals), Isaia (guitars), Jonas (bass) and Malachia (drums). A thoughtful outfit is hiding their exterior: nice masks, long clothes with a clerical hint and corpse paint. The main theme for their music is the “Book Of Revelation” (aka Apocalypse). With this, musicians said they revisited it in a modern-day key but as for me they just chose the path of simplicity. However, it doesn’t really matters.Ok, but what is Apostolica musically? As I’ve already said, it is a modern Power Metal with very wide use of keyboards (which are dominating in music usually) and incredible amount of pathos, just like the concept needs. Musical patterns can be hardly called “exquisite”, they are pretty simple and sometimes generic. All ten songs in the album have the same structure: smooth verses, melodic choruses and catchy bridges. Nevertheless, it works well altogether and you don’t want to turn the music off while it can be easily said which note the band will play next.Actually, it can be easily said what the listener should expect in the next 50 minutes when he will listen to the opener “Sanctus Spiritus”: intro with organ and gloomy choirs, powerful drums, smooth guitar riffs, relatively simple solo and melodic, catchy chorus. Overall, it’s rhythmical and quite buoyant, choirs with Latin lyrics add some mystically clerical vibes which goes really well along with Ezekiel’s hoarse vocals. For the great justice I need to say that there is some variety and playing techniques in this album, like a drum pattern in “Pollution Is My Name” (double kick suddenly) and pretty good Neo Classic guitar solo in “Famine”.However, it will be hard to get rid of the feeling “I’ve heard this already” when you’ll listen to Haeretica Ecclesia: “The Sword Of Sorrow” sounds quite close to Sabaton, especially when Ezekiel sings with the rumbling “R”, while bass in “Thanatos” intro obviously refers us to “Heaven And Hell” (or “Warriors Of The World”). There are very familiar melodies in “Famine” and “The Dusk Is Coming” intros as well but I can’t really recall what it is. Nevertheless, I can’t say there is a plagiarism in Apostolica‘s music. There are some generic patterns, some common Power Metal things and let’s not forget about pretty narrow genre scope. I agree, some songs sound quite similar but I personally can live with it.You know, I can be pretty much ironic and describe Apostolica‘s music with some leniency but I also need to commend the band: these guys know how to make music that will stuck in your head for days! Just listen to the first single “No More Place In Hell”, great bridge in “Pollution Is My Name” or the main guitar riff in “The Dusk Is Coming”. I won’t conceal, I’ve listened to Haeretica Ecclesia for a couple of days and really enjoyed it. I’m sure that many Power Metal fans will do the same. Well, that’s interesting what will the band do further, especially when they signed a multi-album deal with a known label.

Line-Up:

Ezekiel - Vocals
Isaia - Guitar - See also: Krieg
Jonas - Bass
Malachia - Drums

Tracklist:

01. Sanctus Spiritus
02. The Sword Of Sorrow
03. Come With Us
04. Thanatos
05. Pollution Is My Name
06. No More Place In Hell
07. Famine
08. The Doom
09. The Dusk Is Coming
10. Redemption
11. Sanctus Spiritus (Sacred Version) (Japan Bonus Track)




Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/

[Horex]

Apostolica - Animae Haeretica (2023)













Year : 2023
Style : Melodic Power Metal
Country : Italy
Audio : 320 kbps + all scans
Size : 106 mb

Bio:

Founded by some of the finest musicians of the international scene, Apostolica is a new project combining the modern-day European power metal sound with a subtle anticlerical visual & lyrical content.Heavy metal heretics Apostolica have founded a new cult based on a mysterious, intriguing image, a bombastic and pristine sound, ultra-catchy riffs and plenty of unforgettable hooks.The prominent style of the new album is a dark Teutonic power metal, enriched with church choirs and thunderous organs and featuring epic orchestrations and majestic, powerful vocal lines.Drawing inspiration from the obscure history of the Apostolics (a Christian sect founded in Northern Italy during the late 13th century by Gherardo Segarelli), 'Animae Haeretica' delves deep into the sinister tale of this enigmatic movement.

Album:

Apolostolica was quite a surprise back in 2021. The band emerged out of nowhere in full anonymous mode à la Ghost on the Power Metal train with Haeretica Ecclesia. The band’s debut came along as one full-throttled PM album of a band staffed by reputable and established musicians from a variety of bands. That’s what we were told, to be precise. Especially Ezekiel‘s croaks sounded suspiciously similar to some of the bigger players out there in the metal multiverse.But be this as it may, the record made quite an impression over here. Albeit with a record that came across as some mixed bag of sorts. So, the question is, will Apostolica be able to fuel the fire they lit some more or will their sophomore piece join the faceless masses of the mushy PM mainstream? Hold on for the ride. There are heretics beyond the gates.Well, Animae Haeretica takes off lustfully enough. From a heretical church thing to some soulful heresy, that’s where the band took their newest record. And they take no prisoners, the title track roars forward at a sturdy pace, galloping ahead as any reasonable Heavy Metal track should. No woozy intro with atmospherics, just have at it. But – of course – the leopard will not hide its spots and the gawds of Heavy Metal won’t smile for long at ye. Once the typical sing-along refrain hits, you’ll be back on Power Metal territory. Albeit that the RMR review folks are always wary of the title track at the pole position. That’s often a sign that the best track comes first, and anything else moves downhill from there.And truly, this first track with Angels of Smyrna following in its wake are memorable Power Metal songs. Black Prophets impresses with some heavy stomp, mid-tempo chug, and a pretty elaborate structure on a record that usually goes for less. Fire – the one shiny beacon towards the end – impresses with picture-perfect Power Metal on a roll. But Rasputin – the most accessible track on Animae Haeratica already gets you a tune that would sit well on any Alestorm album once the politically correct bug finally bites them.Yet, the attempt to spiff up bland songs with endless repetitions won’t really rocket a record to metal nirvana. Gloria and Heretics – for instance – will try to bludgeon you into submission with ceaseless encores of the track name. Others darkly shine with riffs that will forever return again and again. And that kills the energy of these songs despite the sometimes pretty snazzy solos that ring out at odd moments. Also, you will find guitar work that follows but won’t lead. And that lets the keys almost drown out all else, including the croaky but expert vocals.In other words, tighter songwriting and stringent self-editing would have done wonders. And that’s an odd thing to say about a record that’s some 46 minutes long only.So, you guessed it. Animae Haeretica lost some of its luster compared to Apostolica’s debut album. The band’s first offering truly showcased how a good Power Metal record ought to sound with some energy to spare. But the sophomore piece here failed to build on the former goodness and expand it into a truly astounding Power Metal piece.And that leads yet again to a mixed bag of a record with a smattering of pretty good songs, a few duds, and some mainstream fare. And all that will sound great on stage with the masked band, thunderous metallic musings, light show, fireworks, fumes, and all. But on vinyl Animae Haeretica couldn’t quite keep the excitement going for this here crew. In short, we missed yer mighty roar, Apostolica. If you can build that back in, the RMR crew will be all ears for that next review. We’re ready.

Line-Up:

Ezekiel - Vocals
Jonas - Bass
Isaia - Guitars - See also: Krieg
Malachia - Drums
Jeremiah Keyboards (2023-present)

Tracklist:

01. Animae Haeretica
02. Angel Of Smyrna
03. Rasputin
04. Black Prophets
05. Gloria
06. Heretics
07. Tomorrow Belongs To Me
08. Fire
09. Veritas
10. Skyfall
11. Rest In A Bed Of Roses




Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/