Eternal Idol: Renaissance (Frontiers, 2020)

So I have to admit I really didn’t care much for the first Eternal Idol album (2016’s The Unrevealed Secret). I was irritated that the band’s only nod to the Tony Martin Black Sabbath album Eternal Idol was the name, and didn’t find the music to be that memorable. Still, you can’t exactly ignore a band featuring Fabio Lione, so I had to at least give their new album a listen. It’s called Renaissance, and it’s actually quite good.

Maybe it’s the new female vocalist (Serenade’s Claudio Duronio), or a new appreciation for guitarist/keyboardist Nick Savio after the recent Hollow Haze album, or just Fabio being Fabio, but Renaissance is really satisfying. It’s somewhere between melodic metal and symphonic power metal, but not that easy to pin down. Speed definitely takes a back seat to melody here, and there’s nice (but not overblown) symphonic touch to the album. Lione and Duronio have great chemistry, and both shine here. Lione shines a bit more because he’s Fabio goddamned Lione, but still.

“Not The Same,” “Dark Eclipse” and “Into The Darkness” are great examples of Renaissance’s overall style and quality, but it’s hard to beat the epic 9-minute title track as an album highlight.

I’m glad I gave Eternal Idol a second chance, because Renaissance is a really enjoyable slice of symphonic melodic power metal. It’s definitely going to be of interest to fans of Lione’s work in Rhapsody and Angra, and should appeal to fans of Hollow Haze, The Dark Element, Secret Sphere and DGM as well.