Album number 6 from Italy’s master of symphonic/orchestral brutal death metal sees more lineup changes, much like 2019s Veleno. And while they certainly weathered the changes admirably (replacing long-time members Christiano Trionfera and Tommaso Ricardi departing, Francisco Paoli moving from drums to vocals), with a really good album that even showed some more controlled and restrained songs, Opera, sees the loss of bassist/clean vocalist Paulo Rossi who has been with the band since day one.

Entering the fray for Opera is drummer Eugene Ryabchenko (Banisher, Afgrund) and guitarist Fabio Bartoletti (ex-Hideous Dvinity, ex-Deceptionist), who sessioned on Veleno, now joins as a full-time member. But to help offset the loss of Rossi, Soprano opera singer Veronica Bordacchini has joined the band full-time. She has guested on numerous Fleshgod songs in the past, but now as a full-time member, she has a far larger presence. One thing that has stayed is the production/mix/master from Jacob Hansen (Delain, Epica, Sirenia, Volbeat, Epica, Arch Enemy), who really brings out the orchestral elements from the always fucking epic Francesco Ferrini.

Rather than mythology or history on some of the band’s past albums, Opera deals with a much more personal affair; Francisco Paoli’s near-death accident while climbing a mountain in August of 2021 where he suffered multiple fractures and had a long road to recovery. All of this comes together to form a killer album that continues what King and Veleno delivered; the band’s trademark operatic death metal, but even more dramatic gravitas.

If you don’t like Fleshgod, Opera won’t change your mind. It’s bombastic, epic, and of course, heavily orchestrated. One of the criticisms of the band’s sound was the underlying brutal tech/death metal (think fellow Italians like Bloodtruth, Vomit the Soul, and Hour of Penance, bands with which there is a heavy cross-member pollination). But as with King and Veleno, there is finally a little more restraint and variety- an issue that plagued early albums like Agony,( which I still love) Labyrinth.

With the more personal story, tracks like “Pendulum”, “Matricide 8.21”, “Till Death Do Us Part”, and to some extent “At War with My Soul” deliver slower, more poignant numbers where Bordacchini has a bigger role, especially the fitting closer “Till Death Do Us Part” and the emotional “Matricide 8.21”, where she appears to voice some sort of mother role. And indeed, as a result, the whole thing seems more….. operatic. As the album title suggests.

However, the band is still masters of blistering, blasting death metal with absolutely stunning orchestral arrangements from Ferrini. Opener “I Can Never Die”, “Bloodclock”, and particularly personal favorites “Morphine Waltz” and “Per Aspera ad Astra” (which are now up there with “The Fool”, “The Violation” and “The Betrayal” as my favorite Fleshgod songs) are fucking bombastic as heck.

As I said, this won’t convert critics of the band, but for fans, it certainly adds another album to their growing discography as it matches Veleno, King and Agony as their best offerings.

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