Via Sacra – The Road (2012)

Arriving all the way from Portugal in a very cool glossy packaging box, today we have Via Sacara’s “The Road”. In this release the band delivers ten tracks of excellently crafted Progressive Rock/Metal with very epic keyboards and anthemic tracks. Since the opening track of the release, the band does a very solid job in crafting catchy Rock melodies that at some points have a slight Heavy Metal vibe.

With epic chorus lines, songs like “Lost World” have a very powerful sound and nicely bring together all the elements we love about Rock and Metal. The band also has a nice commercial edge to them making their songs very accessible and enjoyable, while still maintaining some heaviness in their sound. One of our favorite track is the constantly changing “Souls of Fire”, in particular the last few minutes when after some epic vocals the music gets a bit Post-Rockish, totally brilliant in our book.

Amazingly catchy tracks like “No Lies” and “Black Angel” remind us of Rock bands like Heroes del Silencio and their mixture of powerful Heavy Metal-esque elements with catchy vocals. In a more serious tone, “Storm in Your Soul” showcases Lazaro’s lead vocals in this very emotive ballad. The band seamlessly changes between combination of styles between tracks like “Baby, Baby” and “Secret Garden”, the heaviest song in this release in our opinion. In this track the synths do a great job in add to the overall epic atmosphere.

Just before the release comes to a close, the powerful “Never Come Back Home” makes sure that listeners leave with just another taste of the band’s amazing vocal melodies and well-crafted melodic sections. Our favorite song in the release is the trippy “The End of The Road”, in this track the band delivers an excellent atmospheric opening and a very epic (and heavy) climax. Thought this release Via Sacra demonstrates that they are an excellent band and that they can write amazing songs. If you like Hard Rock with many different types of Metal elements, “The Road” is one of those releases that will keep you engaged from beginning to end.

Release: September 22nd, 2012

Genre: Progressive Rock/Metal

Country: Portugal