Liste des groupes Death Mélodique Golem (ITA) One Bullet Left

If you thought that the Melodic Death Metal of In Flames sounded nice, then you haven't heard shit yet. One Bullet Left is the tip top best album in the genre, that I've gotten, in the past few years. Spirit of Metal features the profiles of 4 different bands named Golem. So what the fuck is a golem? According to online sources; a golem is a manlike creature in Hebrew folklore, that's made of clay, and possesses magical powers. With this review, I'll be zooming the focus onto the Italian Melodic Death metal band named Golem, and the magical sound of their music.

The band started out in Southern Italy, in the year 2000. During the years 2000 through 2006, they worked their asses off with 4 releases, and they were also occupied with busy touring schedules. Three of those recordings were released by the French label, Diamond Productions. They built up a loyal fan base with their 2006 release, Black Era. Then suddenly, there was a 4 year lapse of releasing any new material, within the years 2007 through 2010. The fans were eager to get a new album by Golem and I can see why. The Black Era is a dynamite album, with killer riffs that rock out at a fast tempo. Meanwhile, the band was restructuring their musical arrangements, to acquire a sound with more melodic depth. Among the changes, was a lineup change on the drum position. Porcelli quit the band and was replaced by Ruggiero Rico from Cancrena.

The production quality of One Bullet Left exhibits a crisper and clearer sound, than did their previous album, Black Era. This album was recorded by Giuseppe Dentamaro (Fallin' Time), in the band's own studio, called Golem Dungeon Studios. Plus it was also released by a new label, Southern Brigade Records.

For the most part, their music features deep driving bass lines, that saunter between the lower notes, and up to the higher notes. Which is similar to the musical schematic of Beyond the Dream, but Golem executes quite a bit faster than that. Most of the time, the guitar music is down tuned, within the 48 minutes of this 12 track album. What sets One Bullet Left apart from the rest of the Melodic Death Metal music, are the beautiful use of harmonies.

The exquisite keyboard music is a huge part of this attribute. It outshines anything that I've researched online, in the way of Melodic Death, even Raintime. Nowhere is a keyboardist credited for his awesome work, for One Bullet Left. Not in the CD booklet, not in the information sheet, not in their SoM profile, and not even on the band's own website. This album would only be half as great as it is, without the wonderful keyboard music. Keyboard music of this caliber was not present on their last album. So who the hell was that highly skilled musician? I can only ascertain that it was Giuseppe Dentamaro, the keyboardist from Fallin' Time, since he was the one that recorded this album.

The band took a 4 year hiatus, to improve the harmonies in their Melodic Death Metal style. The vocals of Matteo Debellis alternate from grim to clear, as is typical in European metal. His grim vocals sound sort of like a stereotypical pirate. His clear vocals are effective, yet not very remarkable. It's the nice choruses that harmonize so beautifully with the top notch keyboard music, that makes this release stand tall, against their rivals.

Generally, the lyrics concern the misery of life, from the perspective of someone who dwells on their past mistakes. The themes of the songs range from topics of how society is fucking you around, to flat out notions of suicide. At the end of track #1, One Bullet Left, there is a dramatized recording of a man who is apologizing to his mom for committing suicide. You can hear a gunshot going off, in the background. Although the subject matter is so gloomy, you'd never know the difference, since the music sounds so cheery. What an unsuspecting contrast!

On their last album, Black Era, they capitalized on a mix of NWOBHM styled melodies, with Death Metal. With One Bullet Left, they exchanged the NWOBHM melodies, for a magnificent blend of Progressive Metal and Death Metal. All 11 tracks are killer and you can let this album play through. This is a great album and it could become a classic, if they play their cards right. They need to make some videos, to help to showcase their songs. Above all, they need to keep touring, their website said that they performed at Wacken. If you like Melodic Death Metal, then you're going to love this album. Buy it! I listen to it a lot.