Vivaldi Metal Project – EpiClassica

Vivaldi Metal Project
EpiClassica
Sifare
Out: February 22^nd, 2022
Playing time: 44:40 / 50:32

The Vivaldi Metal Project is the brainchild of Maestro Mistheria. He is known as the keyboardist for Bruce Dickinson, Caterina Nix and Chaos Magic, among others. With many well-known musicians, he first produced songs that combine the works of Antonio Vivaldi with Heavy Metal. The debut album “The Four Seasons” was released in July 2016, and almost six years later he has gone one better. “EpiClassica” is a double album with a total playing time of more than one and a half hours. The list of musicians involved is extremely long. So long, in fact, that listing them here would go beyond the scope of this review. So, let’s sit back and listen to the sounds of the master.

Even though the project is called “Vivaldi Metal Project”, not all songs refer to works by the Italian composer. Quite the contrary. If I see it correctly, this only applies to “Deposuit Potentes”. Here, themes from Vivaldi’s “Magnificat” (sacred compositions, RV 610 [Ryom list]) are processed. But already with “Threshold Of Miracles” they turn to other composers. Here it is “Toccata and Fugue in D Minor” (BWV 538) by Johann Sebastian Bach. What is common to all songs, however, is the star-studded line-up of musicians. And the attempt to lift the classical works into the Metal heavens. Later, the “Symphony No. 5 in C Minor” (Op. 67) by Ludwig van Beethoven (“Symphony Of Death”), the “Etude op. 10, No. 12 in C Minor” by Frédéric Chopin (“Revolutionary Odyssey”), the “Piano Sonata No. 11” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (“Alight”) or the “Serenade” by Franz Schubert (“Tragic Serenade”) follow. Somehow one is reminded of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. With the difference that the Americans deal with the classics in a much more commercial way. With Mistheria, you can hear much more Rock and Metal. But less big orchestra. TSO is therefore also more suitable for the masses. But we are not dealing with real classical adaptations here. If you want to hear something like that, I recommend the record “Adaptations” by the GDR band Elektra. Or the “Pictures of An Exhibition”. Several bands and musicians have tried their hand at the latter. 

Certainly, the double album has great entertainment value. And it can bring the works of the classical masters closer to today’s youth. But with its length of one and a half hours, it can also be tiring. One is forced to concentrate if one wants to perceive all the quotations from the music of past centuries correctly. I like the musical realisation quite a bit, especially because Mistheria worked with great musicians. More successful than anything by TSO – yes, but a substitute for real classical music adaptations – rather not. And less would have been more in this case.

Vivaldi Metal Project – Hymn Of Life [Official Video]: https://youtu.be/m1-bQKMmVIw

Lineup:

Mistheria – Keyboards

Label: Sifare

Out: February 22^nd, 2022

Playing time: 44:40 / 50:32

Track list:

Disc 1:

• Deposuit Potentes
• Threshold Of Miracles
• Tears To Splendor
• Dies Irae
• Never Ashes Again
• Royal Overture
• Hymn Of Life
• Symphony Of Death
• Symphony Of Death
  part 1: The Journey
  part 2: The Rebel

Disc 2:

• Alight
• The Absolution
• Mania
• Power Take Hold
• Evolution
• The Eye Of The Guardian
• Deep Core
• The Empire
  part 1: Prelude Of The Titans
  part 2: Wrath Of Mortals
• Tragic Serenade