UDAL CUAIN - ITALY

UDAL CUAIN - NO ONE FALLS LIKE A GOD - AGOGE  
The band, based in Florence, Italy, consists of vocalist/keyboardist/pianist Alessio Parretti (ex-Dark Age and Jaws Of Fate) and bassist/guitarist Matteo Meucci (Coram Lethe). The band has been around since 2018 and signed to Agoge Records in 2021. The album must have been in the works in the intervening years therefore. The snag, obviously, is how a keyboard and a piano are listed. It is enough for any metal fan to skip the proceedings and look for something better immediately. Indeed, the album begins with an intro and then synthesizers on the first track proper, which is cheekily called Silence. A description with keyboards and piano, a long intro and synthesizers going klang klang on an album are enough for any metal fan to just move on. Being perhaps stubborn, persistence took over and the album rolled on.
Thankfully, the album was not all awash in keyboards and piano although the background, at least, is filled by the instruments. Perhaps it is the lack of a dedicated keyboardist. The riffs themselves are simple and linear, which belies the publicist’s “progressive” description, but we all know that nearly every band is described as such nowadays. The vocals are bombastic and a cross between Blind Guardian and Iced Earth. They are also often taped in several channels. The occasional fast rhythm underneath is respectable, but the simplicity and the attempt at layering via a pop instrument are culpable for degrading the whole thing. Still, as heavy riffs and segments without keys appear the outlook for the listener brightens.
No One Falls Like A God speeds up and has some dynamism. Too bad there is a dance-able rhythm under it. Regardless, it is a cool song title. Beauty From The Storm is reminiscent of Threshold. At times the band is like the singer’s backing band simply because Alessio Parretti’s vocals are the most dramatic element of the record. Saint Petersburg is a slow piano cut that is dramatised, but does not offer substance. It definitely is not for a metal fan anyway. It might be something a Queen fan would consider an endearing ballad. Despite All Odds is the best track. The dramatic vocals come with energy to spare. The higher pitches are fun additions. The melodic and intricate guitars offer a modicum of hard rock and heavy metal. This is what this band can achieve if it dumps extraneous elements and be less straightforward. Sun Is Dead is grittier and again there is potential there. The band just needs to wake up, respect itself and understand that keyboards and crap are pop music and not something someone who is into metal cares about. Screw Eurovision. Incidentally, electronic robotic voice aside, the singer lowers his tone here. Excellent hard rock lead work on this mid-paced track is a bonus. It is obviously influenced by the thug band Iced Earth, yet also took me back to Spitfire’s Eyes Of Storm or when Iron Maiden was good circa Piece Of Mind. Descent is again, appropriately, tuned lower and where the singer does what Iced Earth used to do for its fans… except for the New Wave synthesizers (sigh). The bass does doodle its way into the song briefly and the beginning of the guitar solo (right after the keyboard solo) at 3:52 is lifted from Diamond Head’s Am I Evil..
The problem with this band is that it shows potential and capability. If it were yet another crappy Amaranthe, Delain or Halestorm it would be ignored and laughed at dismissively. As is, the album was not as bad as feared and left us and the duo at crossroads. Time will tell which path the band will choose for itself and us. - Ali “The Metallian”