Stormwarning could be seen as the vehicle for new talent Santiago Ramonda, a singer from Argentina who has connected with two members of Brazilian band Landfall.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Stormwarning
ALBUM: Stormwarning
LABEL: Frontiers SRL
SERIAL: FRCD 1308
YEAR: 2023
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Brazil, Argentina
LINEUP: Santiago Ramonda – vocals * Felippe Souzza – drums, percussion * Marcelo Gelbcke – guitars, bass, keyboards
TRACK LISTING: 01 Eye Of The Storm * 02 Satellite Falling * 03 Sweet True Lies * 04 Question Of Time * 05 Neon Skies * 06 Way Of The Warrior * 07 Soldiers Of Love * 08 Lovers In The Dark * 09 Horizon Chase * 10 Last Trip To Eden * 11 Call Of The Wild
RATING: 90/100
WEBLINKS: FB Page
Background
Stormwarning could be seen as the vehicle for new talent Santiago Ramonda, a singer from Argentina who has connected with two members of Brazilian band Landfall in Felipe Souzza and Marcelo Gelbcke. The trio were hooked up by Frontiers SRL management, this Stormwarning album being the end result.
South America is really forging a path of their own when it comes to metal related genres. Bands such as Sepultura and Angra initially paved the way for all those that followed. Looking at the album jacket, I first thought that Stormwarning were a synthwave project, but soon after YouTube spilled the beans on this trio. Not synthwave at all, but melodic metal.
The Songs
The melodic bombast is apparent from the outset, with ‘Eye Of The Storm’ proving to be a musical maelstrom with vocals, power guitars and brutal drumming to the fore. The solo however is slower and soulful, though it does pick up the pace. Swirling synths announce the arrival of ‘Satellite Falling’, it’s another powerful but highly melodic affair. The initial synths proves to be the mainstay of the song.
Though the guitars chug away beefily in the background, ‘Sweet True Lies’ is a track dominated by Ramona’s vocals, which so far are very good. ‘Question Of Time’ takes the foot off the pedal and heads into power ballad territory. ‘Neon Skies’ with it’s chainsaw riffs and pretty synths sounds like a musical conflict, but it kinda works. ‘Way Of The Warrior’ sees Ramonda’s voice taking on a Jeff Scott Soto identity, this song pitched more at melodic hard rock than metal. ‘Soldiers Of Love’ is front loaded with synths and crunching guitars, the tempo kept in the mid range instead of the fast lane.
‘Lovers In The Dark’ shifts its attention to power ballad mode again, there’s a lot going on here, but it sounds terrific nonetheless. ‘Horizon Chase’ is another tune that lightens up on the verses but goes for broke on the bridges and choruses. The tempo lifts for the engaging ‘Last Trip To Eden’, I think this is the track that is best representative of Stormwarning, providing them the passport and template onto further collaborations in to the future. ‘Call Of The Wild’ finishes up the album, Stormwarning ensuring that things end with a flourish rather than a whimper. It’s another bright and breezy belter with lead and backing vocals to the fore.
In Summary
Without doubt, the voice of Santiago Ramonda is the highlight on this album. Not difficult to understand why Frontiers decided to make him the focal point of Stormwarning. Ramonda has since been sighted on the ‘Steel Bars’ covers album singing the Michael Bolton tune ‘Save Our Love’ and he makes a good fist of it too. I’m sure Frontiers will be keeping him busy in the near future. I know I’m a bit late with this review but better late than never I say.
Stormwarning on Video
Eye Of The Storm
Satellite Falling
