Fleshgod Apocalypse – Opera (Review)

This is the sixth album from Fleshgod Apocalypse, an Italian death metal band.

Both 2016’s King and 2019’s Veleno were notable records, so it’s with great interest that we turn to the 43 minutes of new music on Opera. Returning after their biggest gap between albums, after challenging adversity, and with a change in lineup since their last album, what does 2024’s Fleshgod Apocalypse have to offer the world at large?

A whole lot of splendid, that’s what.

As a general rule, unlike its blackened counterpart, symphonic death metal doesn’t tend to grab me in the same way. Having said that, when it’s done well, (as it is here, and also by some other notable bands such as Septicflesh), it can be very powerful stuff. Opera is shockingly strong.

Opera is well-written and well-structured, flowing like a seamless work of majestic epic aggression. Fleshgod Apocalypse have always thrived at the intersection between brutality and beauty, and it’s in this liminal space that Opera delivers its vibrant heaviness.

Fleshgod Apocalypse’s trademark symphonic grandeur is extravagantly enriched on Opera, and has been channelled into an appropriately operatic framework that is highly compelling. This expressive layering of orchestral power is augmented by the sort of death metal that’s both ferocious and considered, ensuring that the two aspects of the music cooperate, rather than conflict. The different songs lean into one style or the other in various ratios, with some especially veering more towards the power/symphonic metal side of things, (Till Death Do Us Part is a prominent example).

Opera feels different to the last two albums. It’s shorter overall and more focused. It benefits from a sense of urgency and vitality that’s highly engaging, and the band sound glorious. The songwriting is tight, dynamic, and confident, and the amount of hooks these new songs have is impressive, down in no small part to the incredibly potent clean singing, (from new member Veronica Bordacchini, who should be colossally proud of her performance), but certainly not all due to this. All of the band members are on fire, and the songs have been crafted with such fine detail and with such absorbing and well-realised creativity, it’s a joy to listen to. These songs are well-rounded exemplars of hook-driven heaviness, mixing together atmospheric emotive depth and appealing catchiness. It all makes for an album that just demands to be listened to again and again.

Although I liked King and Veleno a good amount, Opera‘s songcraft is on another level. Fleshgod Apocalypse’s brand of sophisticated brute force probably shouldn’t work, but Opera is just so hideously good it hurts.

Well, I wasn’t expecting this. It’s a masterclass in symphonic heaviness. I’m aware that this is a very fawning review, but honestly, this album has genuinely shocked me by how good it us. It might sound strange, but it reminds me of when Demanufacture was released way back in 1995. I had been a fan of Fear Factory prior to that landmark album, but Demanufacture felt like an evolutionary leap. While I in no way claim that Opera will have the same impact on the wider metal landscape that Demanufacture did, it certainly evokes a similar feeling in me at a more personal level, with its entirely unexpected leap in quality and impact.

Opera just rules. Essential listening for sure.