Civilization One - Revolution Rising
Metal Heaven
Power Metal
10 songs (50'00)
Release year: 2007
Metal Heaven
Reviewed by Ben

Civilization One is a little collaboration of semi known musicians; Aldo Lonobile of Secret Sphere on guitars, Luca Cartesegena, the former drummer of Secret Sphere, Pierre, ex Heavenly bassist, and Chity Sompala, a singer who is becoming Jorn like in his involvement with many bands and projects. I don’t know the story behind the joining of forces here but the end result is an album which is surprisingly powerful and filled with strong songs and ideas.

After a pointless obligatory intro track Life Of Agony leaps out of the gate with a mighty thrust. This song is balls to the wall speed throughout and has a great guitar tone. The chorus tends to remind me of Secret Sphere with the way the piano parts are played. For such a small role they add that classical romantic feel that the Italians are known for. While Legends Of The Past (Carry On), and yes that is the real name of the song, is being touted as the hit track I find it to be as generic sounding as the title would suggest. This is a power metal by numbers and gets skipped often. The band grabs the rebound however with The Lost Souls. Instead of coming at the listener at full speed the tempo is scaled back to allow Aldo to grant us with a one two guitar combo. First he gets my attention with the melody and then has me hooked with a classic sounding guitar solo over a thick heavy riff. This is a reoccurring theme in Revolution Rising, many of the solos are obviously influenced by eighties arena rock. Rather than going for Helloween like double harmony leads groups like Motley Crue and Skid Row are given a nod to in tracks like Life Of Agony and Welcome To Paradise. Harsh vocals are sprinkled about in the latter as well as 16. I don’t really see the need for them as they don’t fit in well with the overall sound of the band. I’ve actually noticed that it is becoming almost a trend now for Power Metal bands to include some growls. I guess it’s to say “ hey, we’re heavy too.” A couple more killers come at the end of the disc, Wishing Well is another great mid paced song with tons of melody and opens up with a sweet solo like The Lost Souls. Time Will Tell closes the album on a fast and powerful note. Speed and bombast are pack this number and never let up until the closing seconds.

Revolution Rising is a solid release. Fans of Secret Sphere, especially the A Time Never Come album should keep en eye out for Civilization One. Obviously Aldo and Luca’s involvement have evoked strong ties and similarities to their current / former band but they aren’t overbearing. Chity sounds stronger than he did a few years ago in his stint with Firewind and I think Civilization One is a much better fit for his style of singing as well.

Killing Songs :
Life Of Agony, The Lost Souls, Wishing Well
Ben quoted 75 / 100
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