TERAMAZE Sorella Minore | Weekly Heavy Metal Album Review

Released by Wells Music on May 11th, 2021

Quick Background

Teramaze are Australia’s premier Progressive Rock band, fronted by guitarist/vocalist and band founder Dean Wells, along side Chris Zoupa (guitars), Andrew Cameron (bass) and Nick Ross (Drums).

The debut Doxology was released back in 1995. The band saw great success and recognition after the release of critically acclaimed 2015 album Her Halo, their fifth LP. I am not familiar with the band, even if I did listen to one or two of their albums in the past. So this was a good time as any to give it a try.

Sorella Minore 

Sorella Minore is now their eighth full-length studio album and the 2nd instalment of the Her Halo saga continuing the tumultuous story of the 2 sisters. 

The album is centered the epic almost 26 minute long title track. "Sorella Minore" features 4 main vocalists, all hailing from Australia – in addition to Dean Wells,  Nathan Peachey (who apparently left the band to join Trigger), Silvio Massaro (Vanishing Point) & Jennifer Borg (Divine Ascension). The song is comprised of nine parts, but they seamlessly flow as just one gigantic piece of music. The vocals center stage is taken by Peachey who sounds like Tommy Karevik from Kamelot.

Part I  "Deception" lasts 6min and sets the tone of the full song. I really love the catchy melody that is the base of the first six min and part one of the song, but I must say it is repeated quite a lot. It is still very beautiful, catchy and sang with power and melody. In this part Nathan Peachey is the main singer and he is supported by Wells and Borg. But Wells takes the center stage on part II "Vision" not only as a singer but also with a moving guitar solo that reminded me of Savatage. Massaro joins in during part III "Possession" and as always delivers a very good contribution. This is the heaviest part of the song and album with even some guttural vocals albeit just for a few seconds. Parts IV anticipates the song melancholic passages, but part V is very upbeat borderline pop featuring the powerful contribution from Borg's vocals. The anticipated melancholy is then fully explored in parts VI and VII before we reach the the "Confession" or part VIII in which we circle back to part I melody and lyrics. The song picks up energy and speed and builds to a grand finale with all guest singers Borg, Massaro and Peachey delivering strong performances. Finally part IX concludes the piece by calming things down with Peachey singing a last verse leading to some samples and an old piano sound to let the song fade out slowly. 

After this epic journey the album features 3 5-min songs. "Stone" the pre album release single is an emotional piece of music with fantastic catchy melody. It reminds me of Soen and consequently a hint of Tool. "Take Your Shot" is a fun, up tempo rocker and no surprisingly also with catchy melodies.

The Picky Guy

An album with four songs having one that doesn't work for me has an impact on the final scoring. And that is "Between These Shadows", a ballad dealing with separation, oppression and finding a light at the end of the tunnel. I personally don't like it, it's just too mellow and pop-ish for my taste.

While I admire and praise Wells for building this epic title track, at times it feels like forced to become a long song. There's quite a lot of repetition. But I can overlook that in favor of the great melodies and vocal performances on it. It is an engaging piece of art after all.

Wrap Up Opinion 

Sorella Minore is certainly an interesting and ambitious album. Wells ability to write catchy melodies is quite impressive and his decision to bring back Peachey for the title track enriched the album considerably. Side B doesn't work as well for me but it's enough to sustain Sorella Minore as a good album rating 81/100. It is highly recommended for fans of melodic power progressive metal in the veins of Kamelot. Moreover I feel very compelled to now check some of their back catalog.  

Sorella Minore (25:46)

I Deception 0:00

II Vision 6:05

III Possession 8:56

IV Bargain 12:50

V Desperation 14:05 

VI Reflection 16:10

VII Decision 17:00

VIII Confession 19:35

IX Conclusion 23:45

SCORE: 81/100

Genre: Progressive Metal

Released by Wells Music on May 11th, 2021

Rating System

99 - 100 Perfect
94 - 98 Excellent
87 - 93 Great
82 - 86 Very Good
77 - 81 Good
66 - 76 Mixed
58 - 65 Bad

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