CD
Lion Music
Mastercastle CD's and DVD's
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Last Desire CD |
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The Phoenix CD |
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Mastercastle is the new band from Labyrinth guitarist Pier Gonella and sees the introduction of powerful female vocalist Giorgia Gueglio to the scene. Mastercastle’s debut album “The Phoenix” is a potent slice of metal with neo-classical and traditional metal influences within its ten songs. The guitar work of Pier is sure to please fans of the likes of Yngwie Malmsteen, with its strong riffs and explosive lead work. Giorgia Gueglio vocals are equal to task of matching Gonella’s guitar work with their great power and soaring qualities and also serve in giving Mastercastle their own unique sound. Mastercastle are completed by the rhythm section of bassist Steve Vawamas and guest drummer Alessandro Bissa aka Bix (Vision Divine) who combine to create a solid backdrop for all tracks.
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| Reviews: |
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Mastercastle: The Phoenix
Mastercastle: The PhoenixMelodic MetalRating: 5.0/5.0Lion Music The mastermind behind Mastercastle is guitar great Pier Gonella (Labyrinth, Necrodeath, Odyssea), and he has created a fantastic melodic metal band in the neo-classical tradition. Gonella may be the creator, but the beauty, brains (she brought the lyrics: see additional info below), and the star is the mostly unknown Italian vocalist Giorgia Gueglio. Man, can this lady sing! She's sounds like Ann Wilson on steroids, but without the screeching that pierces eardrums. Gonella is awesome on guitar, but Ms. Gueglio steals the show. This formidable combination is only made better by their back up: bassist Steve Vawamas and guest drummer Alessandro 'Bix' Bissa (Vision Divine). Mastercastle's debut is an amazing and nearly flawless listening adventure. I know it's early, but 'The Phoenix' is on my short list for metal album of the year. My kudos to Lion Music for signing this one! Except for some slight downturns into a standard power metal motif within several arrangements, every song on 'The Phoenix' is well-crafted, soaring and excellent melodic heavy metal. Again, as I mentioned above, Ms. Gueglio is quite astonishing in her capabilities and delivery. Not to slight any song, her finest performances come on 'Words Are Swords,' 'Princess Of Love,' the truly amazing 'Greed Blade,' and the closing number 'Cradle Of Stone.' Also, Giorgia is genuinely passionate, clear and strong on the metal ballad 'Lullaby Noir.' Where has this gal been hiding? On guitarist Gonella's side, you will find him ripping up the fret board throughout 'The Phoenix,' and so demonstrating his creativity and expertise. His style is neo-classical, but it's not indulgent like, say, a Malmsteem. Instead, Gonella brings the fire without the wiggly verbosity found from other virtuosos within the band context. Sure, on the instrumentals 'My Screams' and 'Memories,' Pier can shred with best, but he never grandstands when he plays lead in the other songs. This is a rare and unappreciated feature for a guitar hero: he can both star alone (as on the instrumentals) and then contribute to the whole with his solos within the songs. The best of which are: 'Words Are Swords,' 'Greed Blade,' the diverse 'Dawn Of Promises,' and the epic 'Cradle Of Stone.' Frankly, I'm thrilled by his performance: it displays both humility and passion. By now you have some sense of my enthusiasm for Mastercastle. Where Gonella and company slip, but only slightly, is when they degenerate into mundane power metal as on 'The Phoenix or 'Dawn Of Promises.' However, on both this is easily overlooked thanks to the strength of the total arrangement, Gueglio's vocals and Gonella's solos. Mastercastle's 'The Phoenix,' featuring Pier Gonella and vocalist Giorgia Gueglio, is simply fantastic. This work is a perfect mix of outstanding vocals, brilliant neo-classical guitar, vivacious arrangements, and a solid rhythm section to create exciting and memorable melodic heavy metal. Very highly recommended: buy this album now! Additional Information*'The lyrics for the album by Giorgia Gueglio are
mostly influenced by human nature as well as forgotten
tales and events. For example the song 'Greedy Blade'
tells about the disaster of Vajont, a dam on the Italian
Alps that after a landslide, created a giant wave that
destroyed towns and villages in the valley. The title
track 'The Phoenix' tells a story human nature that need
to be as strong as the phoenix, the legendary bird that
dies and is born again on his ashes. The song 'Princess
Of Love' is a mystical tale about the magic presence of
a clan of witches dancing in the forest.' www.dangerdog.com |
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Mastercastle: The Phoenix
Added: April 23rd 2009 |
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MASTERCASTLE - The Phoenix
Mastercastle was formed in January 2008 as a project of the guitar player Pier Gonella (Labyrinth, Necrodeath,Odyssea) together with the singer Giorgia Gueglio. The pair have had several music projects in the past and wanted to try something different. No fixed genre was chosen with the emphasis being on producing music in a natural way. The result was a natural mix of the virtuoso guitar style of Pier with the individual female voice of Giorgia Gueglio which worked well together. The pair wrote a great number of songs and then chose 4 to record for a promo to gain label interest. The first musician contacted to help complete the demo was drummer Alessandro Bissa(Vision Divine). Having also worked in the past with Pier and Giorgia, Alessandro’s arrival changed the initial project into a real band. The line up was completed by bassist Steve Vawamas and the name Mastercastle was settled on for the new band who went on to complete the recordings of the four song demo. In July 2008 they sent four tracks to Lion Music who offered a deal which lead to the release of Mastercastle’s debut album The Phoenix , April 19th 2009.
The debut album The
Phoenix from Mastercastle is
filled with ten strong neo-classical and traditional metal
songs of the finest mark! Words And Swords
opens the disc, and we are directly dragged into a melodic
metal oriented masterpiece of a song. A tight and steady
rhythm with cool riffing guitars and with the very fine
vocals from Giorgia on top this sounds
really great! We are also served a fine guitar solo from
Pier in this. Princess Of Love
is a nice melodic song with a huge melody and chorus. You
will hear the strength in Giorgia`s voice
in this, and I like the way she uses her voice, and its cool
to hear how good it carry the music and make an own unique
sound. Space is a more up tempo song with a
good melody and strong chorus. The guitar work is on a top
level and it pleases me to hear technical guitar work like
this! My Screams is a great proof on this,
a fantastic up tempo instrumental song where the guitar work
is just stunning. The melody is rememberable and I don't
dare telling you how many times I have played this.
Lullaby Noir slows the tempo down, a beautiful song
where you will hear what a great voice Giorgia
have. The melody is top notch and the song reach the top in
the choruses. The title track The Phoenix
is a classic metal song of the finest mark! The fast riffing
guitars, and the verses that builds up to the choruses is a
pleasure listening to. You will also in this hear guitar
playing that will blow you away. Greed Blade
is a fine melodic metal oriented song that lyrically tells
about the disaster of Vajont, a dam on the Italian alps that
after a landslide, created a giant wave that destroyed towns
and villages and villages in the valley. The electronic
elements and the melody and choruses takes this to a high
level. Dawn Of Promises is the fastest song
on the album, but still with the melodic intact. I like the
vocal melody in this and the delicate rhythm section and the
guitar details sounds great! Memories is
the second instrumental, a more ballad like tune where you
can sit back and dream yourself away with fine guitar
playing. Cradle Of Stone ends the album and
like all the other songs on this album also this sounds damn
good in every direction. So take you time and check out
Mastercastle and their nice album
The Phoenix.
97/100 Mastercastle is: Giorgia Gueglio –
Vocals |
Mastercastle
are a brand new band featuring Pier Gonella of Labyrinth
and Necrodeath on guitars, Giorgia Gueglio on vocals,
Steve Vawamas on bass and guest Alessandro Bissa of
Vision Divine fame on drums. Their debut album, The
Phoenix, is a very good slice of power/neo-classical
metal along with traditional melodic metal elements. As
you might expect this is a very guitar driven album and
Gonella is up for the challenge. From acoustic
flourishes, melodic leads and chunky rhythms, Gonella
demonstrates skill and precision. Perhaps the strongest
performance here are the lead vocals of Gueglio. She has
a very nice tone and excellent pronunciation of the
English language which is a definite plus. She does
exhibit a slight Italian accent but it does not detract
from her singing whatsoever. Her accent is more
pronounced in the one spoken word segment. Whether
performing dramatic power ballads or harder edged power
metal Gueglio's voice is ideally suited for the metal
genre and is one of the best new singers I have heard in
a while. 
