The Italian metal band Domine plays classical metal with some symphonic and progressive elements. Ancient Spirit Rising is their fifth album and the title is chosen because of the old elements of ‘ancient’ metal. But what does ancient mean, the Roman period or the Middle Ages? According to the band the title stands for the revival of the metal roots of the 20th century with the emphasis of the ‘80s metal.

I think Ancient Spirit Rising is more than just a revival of ‘80s metal. Surely there are a lot of elements of this period but Domine adds some elements of the 21th century to the songs. The vocals are typical metal vocals of the ‘80s, though on the contrary the structures of the songs are based on the present time. The vocals are the less strong part of the songs. They are not bad but are not strong enough to compete with the bombastic and progressive elements. The sound as well as the production are great and make Ancient Spirit Rising a convincing cd with nine melodic metal songs.

The songs vary from fast metal (‘Tempest Calling’, ‘I Stand Alone’), epic power metal (‘The Lady of Shalott’, ‘Ancient Spirit Rising’) to metal songs with progressive elements (‘On the Wings of the Firebird’) and symphonic metal songs (‘Ancient Spirit Rising’, ‘How the Mighty have Fallen’, ‘Another time, Another Place, Another Space’). Last mentioned song is absolutely a great song with a lot of symphonic elements, a superb guitar solo and terrific structures (long live the repeat button) with Kansas influences, listen to the piano playing!

In short, Ancient Spirit Rising has no weak songs, but surely several highlights. The different metal styles (fast, symphonic, progressive) make Ancient Spirit Rising a diverse album, therefore the album is absolutely worth listening.