SOUL DOUBT “The Dance of Light and Shade”

Self Released, 2017

Music: Progressive Metal

Website: http://www.facebook.com/souldoubtprog/

Duration: 107:04 minutes (20 tracks)

Country: Italy

It is not often I come across a nn album that has a long running time. But this time around, I was fortunate enough to come across a set of talented musicians hailing all they from Italy, whose debut album “The Dance of Light and Shade” is trulya magnificent peice of art. Progressive Metal has always been a hit or miss for me. I do like bands like Pain of Salvation, Tool, Opeth etc but on the other hand I’m not very much into Dream Theatre and bands as such. But Soul Doubt is certainly an exception. Even though the running time is around 107 minutes I gave the album a quick listen without even skipping the four interludes tracks.

It is not possible to give a track by track shout-out since the album has 20 tracks and it will take me atleast 20 Paras for it, which will surely bore you guys. Instead, let me first describe their sound. As far as I’m concerned, Soul Doubt has a perfect Prog sound which might get aggressive at times yet insanely melodic at times. That being said there sound is between the Prog Rock and Prog Metal spectrum. Combining Operatic vocals and Prog metal instrumentation, the sound does hold on and doesn’t fall apart. Of course, you can’t expect a band to play the same old Prog metal for about an hour and half. Soul Doubt combines a lot of elements ranging from Folk to Electronic to get a fresh background.

Among the 20 tracks, my favourite track on this album is the longest one-Danse Macabre. With a running length of almost 12 minutes, the track didnt even bore me for a second. With a multi-layered song structure wrapped with the soaring and Operatic vocals, the song is insanely catchy and melodic. If anything else is memorable than this track, it will be the track that follows it, Elysian. The vocals are delivered perfectly which makes it hard for you not to sing along. Both of these track fall under the Disc 1: Light.

For the Disc: Shade, this part of the album is less effective compared to the masterpiece of a first part. You do find some beautiful tracks like Aeon, Soundscape and Circus Oblivion, but the track that stood out for me, compared to the rest is The Nightbringer. This four minutes track is how I expect them to sound like. Even if the length is short, the band have implement everything that goes in a 12 minute track. Starting with the melodic folk intro, the vocals pave a nice way for the song to get heavier. But once you get past the 1 minute mark, you are in for a real treat. Well, I’m not gonna spoil the surprise. Buy the album and listen to this track on full volume and experience the pleasant surprise just when the track gets past 1 minute mark.

That all being said, The Dance of Light and Shade is something which I call a good firm step towards making an impact on the music industry. Their sound is very much capable of making anyone hooked. With good comes the bad, not everyone might listen to an album that is almost 2 hours in length. If only they bordered the tracklist or split the album in two different albums, it would have been awesome. But still, you won’t feel the experience in listening the album in parts since when I listened to these 20 tracks in one sitting it was very much refreshing. Overall, a good album written by a bunch of talented musicians. I very much appreciate their effort and am looking forward to anything that Sould Doubt puts next.

Line-up:

Marco Ciancaglini: lead & backing vocals, acoustic & classic guitars, orchestrations, additional keys, irish folk and stupid whistles
Federico Benini: 5-string bass, fretless bass, additional synths & pads, programming and sound design
Nicola Casamenti: lead guitars
Marco Calbi: electric guitars, acoustic & classic guitars, dobro
Ale D’Altri: drums
Francesca Pretolani: piano, keyboards and lead synths
Emma Ronca: female lead and backing vocals

Tracklist:

1. Hail To The Sun
2. Prelude To Unconsciousness
3. Hereafter
4. Waking Dreams: Spectre Of Twilight
5. Danse Macabre
6. Elysian
7. Waking Dreams: Swing Of Lights
8. Silent Notes
9. Whispers – Interlude I
10. The Fall
11. Aeons
12. Standing On The Horizon
13. Ashore – Interlude II
14. Land(E)Scape
15. Soundscape
16. Sunset – Interlude III
17. The Nightbringer
18. Circus Oblivion
19. At The Gates Of Dawn – Interlude IV
20. Ashes Of The World