Alogia ‎– Elegia Balcanica

Label:

Miner Recordings ‎– MR 043

Format:

CD, Album

Country:

Serbia

Released:

2014

Genre:

Rock

Style:

Power Metal

Founded by the Branković brothers in 2000, Alogia is a Serbian progressive/power metal band who released their fifth full length album, Elegia Balcanica, in 2014. While the band generated quite a bit of fame early on in their home country, it wasn’t until their third full length, Secret Spheres of Art, that the band gained a sizable fan base outside of Serbia. Alogia played a fast paced, highly melodic brand of progressive/power metal, steeped in thick keyboards and Mediterranean scales with a Middle Eastern flair. Or at least it was until the release of the band’s 2012 full length, Priče o snovima, which served a decisive blow to the band’s fan base with it’s alternative rock structuring and decisive lack of energy.

Alogia - Elegia Balcanica - YouTube
Elegia Balcanico might retain a touch of rock, but it’s fairly safe to say that the band has moved back toward their metal roots. While this isn’t as fast and punchy as Secret Spheres of Art, the band takes a more mature and varied approach to power/prog. The majority of the album features fast paced guitar acrobatics from the Malmsteen school of shredding, but rather than showboating along, the focus remains on crafting catchy and memorable songs. Loads of thick keyboards hang in the air, creating a deep wall of sound that the bass has a difficult time cutting through. In between the nimble solos, the band’s sound centers on chunky palm muting; frankly, it’s fairly typical power metal stuff. The vocals a rather fresh breath of air, as Nikola Mijić’s vocals are shrill and high, yet with the majority of vocals being in Serbian the band gets the benefit of sounding different just because it’s in a different language than usual. Adding to the ethnic flair, the band fits Mediterranean scales and slight Middle Eastern influences into the songwriting, be it keyboard flourishes or a quick guitar lick, which the title track features plenty of both.

Alogia - Elegia Balcanica (Official Video 2013) - YouTube

As good as the instrumentation is, the band trips themselves up quite a few times, be it choppy transitioning or pieces that just don’t quite mesh with the rest of the music. These quirky moments aside, there are a few moments that sound almost like J-Rock or pieces to anime theme songs, like the choruses during “Ona zna (Lilit)” and “Galija”. There’s nothing inherently wrong with these ultra-catchy choruses, it just really seems out of focus with the rest of the album. Being that this is a catchy, power/prog album, why wouldn’t the band include a progressive death metal tribute to Chuck Schuldiner? Complete with the growled vocals and choppy and chuggy guitar-wizardry of later period Death, “Intentionally Blind” is a decent track, but it’s still difficult to fathom why Alogia included this track here.

Alogia may not have brought themselves back up to the level of Secret Spheres of Art, but they have certainly come a long way from their previous abomination. Perhaps tighter song structures and a little less variety show appeal could reign this beast in. It’s a solid album for those looking for interesting, ethnic progressive/power metal, but there’s a good portion of filler mixed in as well. These guys certainly have the chops to impress, but the songwriting isn’t really up to par. Elegia Balcanico manages to combine prog, power metal, J-rock and tinges of traditional instrumentation, so it’s not a complete loss, but it’s hard to shake the feeling that this could have been so much better.