Although I have never heard of Domine, they are apparently one of the frontrunners of the epic power metal scene in Italy. It comes as no surprise that they exactly sound like the stereotypical Italian power metal band. Right from the first second of this disc it’s pretty obvious that Domine are influenced by their compatriots of Rhapsody: high speed power metal with epic twists and turns. Nothing wrong with that, just not very original. However the album features also a lot of old school eighties influences. While songs like “Battle Gods”, “True Believer” and “Icarus Ascending” are straightforward and compact, the more epic “The Aquilonia Suite” and “The Sun Of The New Season” show that Domine are able to play long and complex songs as well. The keyboards are good and not too dominant and add a very epic touch to slower more bombastic parts of the album.

“Emperor of the Black Runes” is pretty much a cliché in all ways possible, fantasy lyrics included. However one must give credit where credit is due. Domine play very decent metal and on top of that their lyrics are influenced by classic fantasy writers like R.

E. Howard and Michael Moorcock and are far above the average stuff compatriot power metal acts write (that’s a big bonus for me at least). So we get to hear a Conan the Barbarian story in “The Aquilonia Suite” accompanied by a song based on the movie soundtrack theme by Basil Poledouris. There’s an unfortunate typing error on the cover, as someone has managed to rape the name Thulsa Doom. Oh well, there’s more important things than spelling errors (I’m the first to say that because I’m the master of all typos) and the song is pretty decent, although reminding very strongly of Bal-Sagoth and I’d swear the guitar solo is completely stolen from said band.

Unfortunately I’m not a terribly big fan of this type of happy metal and I prefer my music served in a bit more original way. However for those who enjoy bands like Luca Turilli and Rhapsody I can advice “Emperor of the Black Runes”. Nothing groundbreaking, just pretty decent epic power metal with above average vocals and good lyrics.