Style: Power metal, progressive metal (clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: DragonForce, Nocturnal Rites, Angra
Country: Italy
Release date: 9 January 2026

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Power metal has long been a favoured domain of mine for many legendary years now. Through fire and flames I’ve carried on into nightfall, under the moon, to later embrace the sun; always in search of a future world, and a future album to listen to. Imagine my dismay, then, when not a single European castrato made it onto this site’s 2025 top 10 albums. I feel a pariah in my own home. But I digress. You can’t teach taste. And believe me, we tried. Ever heard of The Renaissance? Little cultural revolution in Italy back in the day. You probably wouldn’t know of it. Anyway, The Renaissance happened, yadda yadda, one thing led to another, and Italy is now the mecca of power metal. We all know the big names, of course, but once in a while you can stumble upon a release that may be a little lesser-known and you go, ‘shit, these guys have got it together pretty well.’ And today, that’s Walls of Babylon, with their fourth album Aeons Apart.

Out of the gate, Aeons Apart sounds killer. The production is really top notch and instrument separation is good even at low volumes—the kick punches through the mix, the vocals and guitars are duly in the forefront, and the bass grounds everything with its low rumbling. The keyboards soar high above in some places and shine with shimmery pads, and in other places they reinforce the low end with some sinister bass tones without creating a muddy mess. For a relatively unknown act from Marche in central Italy, this release sounds quite honestly indistinguishable from some of the more established groups. Hats off to their studio crew, but I must also commend Walls themselves for that, because all of that work in the studio is useless without a solid foundation, and that brings me to my second point: the arrangements. 

Walls of Babylon have some serious songwriting chops on display on Aeons Apart. The riffing is top-notch, the leads are catchy, the drums are relentless, and the vocalist takes a unique, almost narrative approach. There are cool moments peppered throughout that I immediately caught on to: the opener “Silent Guilt” has some really tasty pinch harmonics, and plays nicely with feel throughout the track; “Once Again” introduces a melodic acoustic guitar motif that becomes an electric guitar lead; “Lies for Gold” could be the heaviest track on the album and has the best solo section on the release; and closer “Epilogue” has my favourite opening riff with the effected guitar playing over a textural, oscillating synth line. That riff continues under a filter sweep that opens up to lead satisfyingly into the first verse—a really fun way to guide the listener and build intensity. One small criticism I have is that the songs are very wordy, even in the refrains, and it makes it a little challenging to catch a hook. Ostensibly, the album is a meta-concept about a writer telling the stories of each track as he writes them. In that regard, some of the overly verbose ideas are certainly fitting with the theme, but could stand to be pared down and simplified a little in the efforts of listener retention.

Although there is a lot of instrumental complexity in the songwriting, there also happens to be somewhat of a lack of dynamics on Aeons Apart overall. Every piece more or less begins and ends with some variation of the same structure: introduce a speedy riff in the verse, ramp up intensity before the chorus, break it down directly after, and then bring back the upbeat pace from the verse. I feel the release would’ve benefitted from some more extended instrumental sections, some stronger fluctuations in pace and tempo, or perhaps a bit of experimentation with the synth that’s teased throughout the album. It’s not that having a structure is a detriment; rather, I think it’s a testament to the band’s ability and consistency. That said, a little more variability wouldn’t go amiss. 

Aeons Apart has a very clear vision and style in mind and Walls of Babylon executed it with faithfulness and precision. The composition is tight, the vocals are catchy, the instrumentals are complex enough, and the album is cohesive as a whole even if overall we’re not really breaking new ground here. Not every band has to push the envelope with every new outing, yet I can’t help but feel this is more a continuation of their 2022 release Fallen with some brighter melodies and a cover artwork that rings some gen-A.I. alarm bells in my head. Still, sometimes it’s better to stick with what you know, and Walls of Babylon are certainly no strangers to this prog/power spectrum they sit on. Here’s hoping that they can start to branch out a little more on the next release while staying true to their established sound.

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Recommended tracks: Lies For Gold, Epilogue, Silent Guilt
You may also like: Redemption, Labÿrinth, Lost In Thought
Final verdict: 6/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram

Label: Wanikiya Record

Walls of Babylon is:
– Valerio Gaoni (vocals)
– Fabiano Pietrini (guitars)
– Francesco Pellegrini (guitars)
– Matteo Carovana (bass)
– Marco Barbarossa (drums)