2013
Edoardo Napoli's "Eternal Bleeding" is a huge undertaking. Let me just get that point out of the way first and foremost. At close to two hours in length(!) and with twenty-three total tracks this release, which is the debut solo album from this Italian muti-instrumentalist, is grand in it's undertaking if nothing else! Here on "Eternal Bleeding", with it's one (simply) sinister cover artwork, Edoardo Napoli (ex-Honourblast) handles everything and, style-wise, this a case where everything gets sampled into the mix. Other then a scant few numbers where there are lead vocals (which incidentally come across as a grittier Tom Araya) the bulk material of this expansive collection is instrumental in nature. Either way though Edoardo Napoli shows that he's more then capable of taking charge of it all (vocals, guitar, bass, keys, drums, etc.) and then presenting it in such a manor as to offer a lot of bang for your buck! After two (highly effective) tracks that tackle the subject of thrash metal (or even progressive thrash metal) head on ("A.A.D. Cosa Nostra" and "Against the Cross") we find ourselves treated to a combination of classic Judas Priest and "Back In Black"-era AC/DC in the instrumental "Beyond the Shades of Fear". And yes, a number like that has quite a bit to offer in the appeal department! From there we move on to "Darkness Descends", which is progressive hard rock/heavy metal in all of it's (catchy) glory, and then such numbers as the Steve Vai-infused "Fly in the Space" and the heavy, Accept meets Dio cut "Fog". And that's only the first part of this album! Those couple of numbers put you at about 1/4 of way through and there is so much more to go! But, when you've got the album that's this good and (damn-right and damn-straight) interesting it's not as if you are going to complain! Whether it's piano-driven hard rock you're looking for ("I need to understand"), cool bluesy-hard rock ("Nexxus") or balls-out Metallica-like thrash ("Get the hell out of here") this album has you covered! There's more Dream Theater/Rush-like progressive material to be found (for sure) on "Eternal Bleeding" besides "Darkness Descends". Within cuts like "Let yourself fly away" and "Steal of your Dreams" Edoardo Napoli shows how he could easily step-right into a band like Dream Theater and contribute from day one if needed! The same could be said about any progressive/melodic power metal band that might need a helping hand on guitar as evident by "My Immortality". But then those Tom Araya vocals come into play on the Slayer-like "How did we come to this?" and the evil-incarnate, Deicide-influenced "Violence is my life"! The somewhat gothic thrasher (Metallica meets Type O Negative) "Living Nightmares" comes from out of left field, but again, so does a lot of the material on an album like this! The longest number here is the eight minute-plus "The Fight of the Unholy One" (epic instrumental heavy/power metal anyone?) while "When Spirits shook my Hands", which is technologically-advanced heavy & hard rock, falls in at just a hair over three minutes! Finding a favorite number would be nothing short of impossible as Edoardo Napoli is just so insanely talented at everything he does! Whether he's chilling out on a number like "I'll never let you flow away" or letting his hair down somewhat on a number like "Turbo!" all of the material here works in it's own way! It will be interesting (to say the least!) to see where Napoli goes from here as he has (apparently) assembled a full-fledged band and will (soon enough) be releasing a new album in the form of "Roads to Nowhere". In the meantime though you can check out most of this album's (very cool and highly recommended!) 23 tracks at the bandcamp link below.
http://edoardonapoli.bandcamp.com/album/eternal-bleeding
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