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Purgatorium

    
       
       
       
     
             
Sylvania are a power metal band from Spain formed in 2007, releasing to date four albums - 'Lazos de sangre' (2011), 'Recuerdos del manana' (2016), 'Testigos de las estrellas' (2019), and 'Purgatorium' (2023).    
             
The new album is ten songs and fifty minutes of speedy power metal with strong touches of aggression and a mighty melodious attitude - think power metal pioneers Rage, Kai Hansen fronted Helloween, and early Running Wild for some sort of sound reference! The urgency Sylvania rattle through every song on offer is incredible, vigorously banging heads hard right from the off - as soon as the two minute tension fuelled instrumental 'Entre la vida y la muerte' floats by! And as most of us know, metal albums that begin with a highly atmospheric and anticipation loaded opener, usually explode furiously into life straight after - and I'm glad to say that's exactly what happens here...    
             
...'Purgatorium' exploding into life with a crash, bang and a wallop courtesy of the title song 'Purgatorium' - a high velocity gallop of all out power and pace! The five piece outfit from Valencia are on fire, roasting the ground without remorse - 'Purgatorium' (the song) turning heads of listeners from all over the world. Talk about an immediate and instant shock to the system, Sylvania have just obliterated the airways with a blistering opening salvo - keeping the momentum flowing with 'El Rio de los Lamentos'. Featuring guest keyboard player Nacho Sanchez Soler (Opera Magna), 'El Rio de los Lamentos' highlights a more elegant style of metal, the band planting one foot firmly on the monitor to adopt the classic pose of traditional heavy metal. Now I don't really have a clue what the band are singing about, as the album is sung in (presumably) Spanish, which doesn't really matter cause the music is so fucking good - it just reinforces the fact that music in all its shapes, sizes and sounds, is a universal language that everyone, everywhere can understand. Elegance remains front and centre for 'Tu calor sera mi voz', Sylvania picking up the pace, thundering on with an immense level of head bang ability, the albums opening threesome sending mosh pits fucking mental!    
             
And mental they'll remain, 'Purgatorium' (the album) storming on with the punchy metaller 'Aunque mi alma se desgarre', and a gloriously sing a long-able chorus - every listener, fan, follower and concert goer joining in with the band. I would if I could speak Spanish, but I can't, so I'll just continue my frenetic head banging, thoroughly enjoying the metal on offer. And for the first time since the album began, all energy and oomph is replaced by the mellow strains of power balladry, 'Canto de Luna' - the band delivering a bout of serenity that'll have everyone swaying from side to side and lifting lighters high in the air! But wait a moment, turns out 'Canto de Luna' isn't a ballad at all - it's an instrumental, and acts as a two minute intro for the next song 'Hechizo de Invierno', which comes crashing in at a hundred miles an hour, blazing a fiery trail across the sky, punching hard and kicking harder as it picks up the baton of power metal. Across the album up to this point, there's been a strong thunder, fire and brimstone feel bubbling away, Sylvania proudly standing at the heavier end of the power metal genre, banging the heads of every listener around the world.    
             
Heads that can take a well earned break for a moment, as the band stride into ballad territory proper, 'Mar de Agosto' a power ballad right off the top shelf! Everyone will definitely be swaying from side to side here, holding their lighters high to salute a very good ballad. The final two songs on offer feature a second guest musician - Saratoga vocalist Tete Novoa, the first of which 'El Juicio de las Almas', explodes into life with a level of ferocity not heard previously - the band firing on all cylinders just as they've done all album long. And bringing the album to a close, 'Hacia la eternidad' clocks in at an incredible twelve minutes in length - clearly the longest song on offer by one helluva margin! The band are at their most elegant here, delivering every style of metal in their locker, from all out pace to a majestic mid tempo march, balladry to a hymn-like swagger, and an infectious level that's just shot through the fucking roof! What a final hurrah!    
             
Overall, a full on and in your face power metal assault, featuring pace, purpose, urgency and tonnes of head bang ability.    
             
             
Review by Iron Mathew Collins    
             
Reviewed for Metal Gods TV    
             
             
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