Style: Alternative Metal, Progressive Metal (Mixed Vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Stratovarius, Jinjer, Sleep Token
Country: Italy
Release date: 02 October 2026

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“With Arcade, Souls of Diotima are ready to redefine the boundaries of modern metal”.

Statements like the above—a quote taken directly from Souls of Diotima’s Spotify ‘about the artist’ page—are everywhere in the modern metal scene. Seemingly every band has ‘redefined’, ‘breathed new life into’, or ‘explored unknown territory’ in the subgenre of metal they play. Sometimes, such statements turn out to be true, a rare occasion which makes wading through the musical swamps worthwhile. However, most bands fall woefully short of their optimistic-at-best assertions. Once again, the question rears its ugly head: can Souls of Diotima live up to their lofty claims? Or are they full of shit?

Sniff sniff… Uh oh… What’s that smell?

Souls of Diotima play a modern form of alternative metal, and—much like putting lipstick on a pig—do their best to zhuzh up the sound with a veneer of progressive and power metal. Now, let me be clear: Arcade’s foundation of alternative metal isn’t the problem, and my intention isn’t to bash the genre as a whole. On the contrary, alternative metal is popular for a reason, and many bands make great, creative use of the genre’s attributes. So, what makes Souls of Diotima different? Well, see that pesky ‘modern’ word up there?

Arcade wastes no time indulging in modern metal tropes with opener “Warning!”, an utterly pointless introduction track which tries to set the tone for the album with atmospheric synths and spoken word narrative, but only ends up wasting three minutes of my life. Content with the listeners’ sacrifice, Souls of Diotima deign it appropriate to finally start playing some music with “Revenge”, which actually shows some promise. Chugging power chords are accompanied by Stratovarius-esque synth melodies before opening up into moody, layered lead guitar and mid-pitched growls which sound straight out of Insomnium’s playbook. For about forty seconds, Arcade sounds, dare I say it, fine?

Then the chiptune starts.

Yes, you read that right. Again, nothing against chiptune as a genre, but for reasons not even known to [insert deity here], the bridge of “Revenge” features quirky, completely out of place chiptune synth intervals which immediately shatter the mood and halt whatever momentum Arcade may have built up thus far. Souls of Diotima try to save things with a dramatically timed low growl leading into the chorus, but any hype built by the moment is immediately neutered by lead vocalist Claudia Barsi’s nasally timbre and wholly uninspired sense of melody. The bridge and chorus repeat themselves once or twice—who cares—before a full fledged chiptune ‘breakdown’ hammers the final nail in the coffin, eviscerating any hope left for redemption. The worst part? “Revenge” is far and away the best song on Arcade.

What follows is roughly thirty minutes of tortuous modernity. Souls of Diotima run the gamut of tired Jinjer-inspired djenty metalcore (“Deadline”), unnecessary and annoying electronics (every song), and totally out of place hip hop beats and horrid rapping (“Run Away”). Songs like “Head Up, Guard Up” almost entirely ditch any semblance of rock or metal in pursuit of pop-adjacent electronics, any guitar or drums remaining relegated to the bare minimum aesthetic requirement, more ‘textural quota’ than ‘instrumental performance’. Therein lies the crux of Souls of Diotima’s dilemma: despite any efforts, they lack a soul rooted in any one genre or style of music outside of the concept of the ‘modern’, failing to realize the antithetical nature of such a compositional philosophy. All the listener is left with, then, is a rectangular block with which to fill in their triangle-shaped hole. Funny, what shape is cash again?

So no, Souls of Diotima don’t “redefine the boundaries of modern metal”. Hell, they don’t even seem to know where the boundaries are in the first place. Arcade is, at best, a shameless attempt at radio play, or to ‘appeal to a wider audience’ or whatever—more power to ya! At worst, though, it’s a betrayal of the soul, an insidious serpent patiently coiling around the very nature of Souls of Diotima’s existence, an ontological hazard to music itself. Or, y’know, it’s just another unnecessary modern metal album and I’m being needlessly dramatic. Eh, who cares?

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Recommended tracks: Revenge, Time is a Flame, Senza Rancore
You may also like: Canvas of Silence, Delta, Primrose Path, No Terror in the Bang
Final verdict: 2/10

Related links: Official Website | Facebook | Instagram

Label: Diotima Records

Souls of Diotima is:
– Claudia Barsi (vocals)
– Giorgio Pinna (drums)
– Fabio Puddu (guitars, vocals)
– Manuel Dettori (bass)