Novum Initium

Novum Initium is the fifth album, combining thick guitar riffs, classical keyboards and dramatic choruses to play orthodox melodic metal with force. True to the title, Latin for “new beginning,” At Vance's Rick Altzi replaced Jørn Lande, with Jari Kainulainen (ex-Stratovarius) on bass and Cradle of Filth's Martin Skaroupka on drums. Released on AFM in 2013. The songs keep a low center of gravity, then open wide to the sky in the choruses. From the intro “Per Aspera Ad Astra,” the racing “The Game,” the hook of the single “Keep Your Dream Alive,” the shadow of “Black Night of Magic” and “Return from Avalon,” to the title track running past ten minutes, the density is high. Grapow himself joins on vocals on the title track. Rather than tracing the past, there's momentum that shows the band's new drive. Altzi's voice has a texture akin to Lande's while carrying its own color, fitting the album easily — a stately record balancing heft and melodic flash.