Style: Power metal, progressive metal (mixed vocals, mostly clean)
Recommended for fans of: Angra, Dream Theater, Kamelot
Country: Italy
Release date: 17 April 2026

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Concept albums are a huge gamble, full stop. To be bound to a singular idea for an entire album can be a tricky thing; one must be really clever to pull it off successfully without coming across as trite or alienating the listener. Great concept albums in metal are few and far between, and fewer still these days. With the advent of streaming and the ethereal, enigmatic ‘algorithm’ that pushes single tracks and disordered, mix-and-match playlists, listening to complete works from back to front has mostly become a thing of the past. Personally, though, I love a good overarching narrative, so I’m always happy to jump right in if the idea sounds interesting enough—or even if it doesn’t. And, uh, we’ll get to that in a minute.

The Human Farm, sophomore effort from the Italians Vanderlust, shoots for the stars with a melodic power-prog sound that’s woven around a tale of interstellar visitors. A clear evolution from their debut, this album presents a more varied, technically advanced compositional style. You’ll find a typical power metal intensity on tracks like “Golden Shackles” and “From The Cave – Fuga” (“escape”), where tremolo-picking and double-kick passages create a sense of melodic urgency. That kind of energy is also accompanied by a notable thrash metal freneticism in the aggressive, decidedly Vektor-influenced guitar riffs that zig and zag over rapid blast-beat passages in “Viral Escape”. Meanwhile, their seven-minute epic and album closer “Humanity 3.0 – The New Canaan”, develops in several distinct movements and is arguably the standout piece on the album. These musical contrasts adeptly showcase Vanderlust’s more progressive elements both in the overall science-fiction theme and within the songwriting itself, helping to give The Human Farm a sense of identity.

The production of The Human Farm is characterized primarily by guitarist/main composer Francesco “Franz” Romeggini’s complex and layered riffing, and the very tight drumming provided by Giacomo Mezzetti. Overhead, David Cantina’s nuanced bass sound can sometimes get lost in the mix but once in a while is allowed to pipe in, as in the track “Turning Point”. Romeggini’s guitar work on the release is technically proficient, and I also commend the way that he finds moments to put his chops on display without ostentatious shredding for shred’s sake—the all-too-brief, sweep-picking passage in the mostly-instrumental “From The Cave – Fuga”, was one such moment that nearly glued my eyebrows to the ceiling. Vocalist Ricca “ZP” Morello exhibits his wide tenor range throughout, and is responsible for many of the catchy refrains present on the album; I’d like to highlight “Connection Failed” as having an exceptionally Maiden-esque memorable chorus. He’s backed up on the mic by featured artist Martina Berreca (Mess Excess) providing the odd harsh vocal and operatic vocal, while some synth and orchestral elements are peppered throughout via the album’s second guest musician, Francesco Londino (S91). 

Now, we need to talk about the elephant—or rather, the alien—in the room: The Human Farm’s sci-fi dystopic concept of “technologically-advanced alien race enslaves humanity” is hardly a new idea by any stretch of the imagination, and I can’t help but feel that Vanderlust struggle to put it all together in a way that avoids coming across as a little clichéd. Maybe even a lot. There’s a bit of narration in the opening track, and a short bit of voice-acting halfway through the record in “ … Find Them!”, which I felt were quite wooden and stiff. I know that the idea of “show, don’t tell” can be a little challenging in music, but perhaps Vanderlust would’ve been better off playing to their strengths and weaving those bits of the story into actual songs. 

Then, there’s the plot itself: in their promo material, Vanderlust go on to describe a human world in which the population is living under terrible conditions such as abject poverty and an ambiguous suffering, and these aliens, monikered “Coelecanths”, offer a perfect life in an extraterrestrial utopia—but with the steep price of execution at the age of forty. Why forty? Unclear. Later, some of the ‘captured’ humans plot an escape, determining that life was better where they came from. Why better? Unclear. Admittedly, the whole idea lacks a little consistency in its internal logic, but power metal will do what power metal will do.

Nevertheless, I maintain that Vanderlust have put out a reasonably good record here. While their concept may make my eyes glaze over when I think about it, the foundation on which it rests is sturdy and respectable. I fear the idea of writing concept albums is not such an attractive one these days and I hope prog can continue to be the one area where the concept album may never die. Vanderlust may have overshot their orbit with the story of The Human Farm, but their music’s got plenty of fuel to correct course. 

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Recommended tracks: Golden Shackles, Connection Failed, Humanity 3.0 – The New Canaan
You may also like: Labÿrinth, Sunburst, VENUS
Final verdict: 7/10

Related links: Facebook | Instagram

Label: Rockshots Records

Vanderlust is:
– Ricca “ZP” Morello (vocals)
– Francesco “Franz” Romeggini (guitars, backing vocals)
– Giacomo Mezzetti (drums, backing vocals)
– David Cantina (bass)

With guests
– Martina Barreca (harsh vocals, operatic vocals)
– Francesco Londino (keyboards, arrangements)