“As having sense of beauty, do omit their mortal natures, letting go safely by the divine Desdemona.” The words of Shakespeare from his famous tragedy Othello could be fitted to the sound of this Italian progressive power metal act. It is pretty clear that these guys have lyrically been influenced by Shakespeare and it’s not much of a surprise that their first album Soul Foreclosures dealt with the aforementioned Shakespearean tragedy Othello; hence the band’s name.

Look For Yourself is a concept album and the story takes place in some European cities in the 19th century during the reign of Queen Victoria. Sounds like Shakespeare? Yes, it does and I happen to dig Shakespeare. However, this time Desdemona have written the story themselves.

I’m an avid antagonist of the whole progressive power metal scene but I must confess that Desdemona does have a sense of beauty.

The melodies on this CD are good and the band has refrained from over-technicality, even though there are plenty of guitar and keyboard solos. Nevertheless they have managed to create songs with atmosphere; listen for instance to the best track “Nuntius Diaboli” which is both gloomy and melancholic.

However, even the divine Desdemona loses my interest at times; mostly during the technical power tripping parts. The songs are very difficult to get into and Look For Yourself definitely needs to grow on you. Nevertheless this Italian outfit is definitely talented and I can highly advice this album to anyone who’s into progressive power metal. Behold the divine Desdemona.