Macbeth

Macbeth

Macbeth is an Italian Gothic Metal Band formed in 1995. They are signed to Dragonheart Records and have been releasing albums since 1998. Formerly known as “Land of Dark Souls”, the band was inspired by the combination of gothic imagery and music. The band is well known for contrasting dual female and male vocals. The band was founded by drummer Fabrizio Cislaghi. The band debut album was “Romantic Tragedy’s Crescendo” in 1998 shortly after the release of their successful demo tape called “Nocturnal Embrace.” They received extremely positive feedback on their first album. After a few live gigs the band went through some line-up changes. With a new line-up in 2001, Macbeth entered the studio to work on their second album. “Vanitas” is considered a masterpiece of gothic symphonic metal suffused with melancholy. Some havfe called it the perfect fusion of power and atmospheric metal. The album shows a more aggressive approach than their debut album without losing the romantic side of the band’s style. After the release of “Vanitas” Macbeth began to be considered as one of the leading bands of the gothic metal scene. In 2005 the band released their third album entitled “Malae Artes”. They began to develop their style, putting more and more emphasis on the theatrical atmosphere of the whole album but keeping the songs powerful. They then went on a tour of Italy and also in South America. They played at the Metal Female Voices Fest in Belgium, the Rock Nation Open Air in Beirut, Lebanon. Macbeth entered the studio in 2007 to record their fourth album. At the same time the lead female vocalist of Macbeth, Morena, also began a collaboration with the musical project Rezophonic and the music channel Rock TV. They released “Superangelic Hate Bringers” in 2007. After releasing their fourth album the band toured the United Kingdom for the first time. They also played all over Italy and once again played at Belgium’s Metal Female Voices Fest. Morena Rozzi was invited as a special guest for the Metal March Day Fest in Athens, Greece to sing on stage with the band Overgarven. The band is currently working on new material for their fifth studio album.

Discography (That I Own)

1. Romantic Tragedy’s Crescendo (1998) – Macbeth’s first studio album. My first impression of this group was that it was just another Beauty vs Beast vocals band. Cristina, the lead female vocalist for this album only, has a very tender voice on this album. Vittorio, again the male vocalist for this album alone, grunts and gives high pitched screams during the songs. Cristina’s voice is interesting because she sings with a peculiar, fragile, almost childish voice. Vittorio seems to have a strong voice but without distinguishing features. In truth I winced alot when I heard him screaming on this album. I am just not a fan of screaming. After this album I was not sure if I would ever buy another Macbeth album. Their music was nice but just not my thing. But I decided to give them another chance after I heard a song from their second album.
   
2. Vanitas (2001) – Macbeth’s second studio album. This is a more diverse album. While they did not neglect their previous style they enriched it with different effects. This time the melodies are catchier, more dashing than on their debut album. For all this it was the vocals that caught my attention. The vocal diversity of new singers Morena Rozzi and Andreas Cislaghi broke free from the typical “Beauty vs Beast” criteria as both singers vary their voices and play with their range and timbre. This album is also less Gothic in style than the previous album.
   
3. Malae Artes (2005) – Macbeth’s third studio album. The album began with a cute little intro and then launched into a song called “Lifelong Hope”. The first thing that caught my attention was the keyboards and then the sweet yet powerful vocals of Morena Rozzi. Andreas Cislaghi plays with his vocal range more on this album and the result at times can be dramatic but always fun. He never crosses that line that would make it inappropriate with the music. This album is more reminiscent of bands like The Gathering and Evanescence while style keeping their own definable edge.
   
4. Superangelic Hate Bringers (2007) – Macbeth’s fourth studio album. The style of this release is more Gothic Rock than atmospheric or gothic/black metal as their earliest works were. The album contains catchy guitar melodies, great duet vocals and a more or less fast and aggressive undertone. Essentially what one might expect when listening to a album entitled “Superangelic Hate Bringers.”

In Conclusion
Macbeth has grown on me. I still do not think I will ever like them as much as I do bands such as Within Temptation, Stream of Passion, or Delain, but as they changed both singers and styles I found that I liked the band much better than I had.