Album Review: Athena XIX - Everflow Part 1: Frames Of Humanity

In my teenage years, I was a very big fan of power metal and bands like Rhapsody, Vision Divine, and Hammerfall. I saw many of them playing live in their prime, in Chile. That's why Fabio Lione is not a stranger to me. I've always considered him a great musician with a distinctive voice. I didn’t follow his later career with other bands but gladly I now have the chance to hear him in his band Athena XIX, which I hadn’t listened to before.

Athena is an Italian metal band from Pisa, Italy, formed in 1991. The name was chosen after the Greek goddess of wisdom, handicraft, and warfare. After 20 years the original lineup reformed under a new name, Athena XIX, and is releasing a new album, Everflow Part 1: Frames Of Humanity on October 25, 2024.

Band Members

• Graziano Poggetti - guitar
• Simone Pellegrini - guitar
• Gabriele Guidi - keyboards
• Fabio Lione - vocals
• Alessio Sabella - bass

The Songs

The album starts with Frames of Humanity, a song with rhythm changes. Here, stands out the sweet keyboard melodies and Lione’s voice.

Electronic sounds give the entrance of Legacy of the World, transforming into a power metal track full of different subtle storytelling elements that make it very interesting.

Sick bass lines and guitar riffs at the beginning of The Day We Obscured the Sun. A heavier, darker track and my favorite of the album.  

A more classic power metal approach comes with The Seed.

I Wish leans on the progressive side. It has the additional vocals of Roy Khan, the Norwegian singer who has been part of bands like Kamelot and Conception.

Some mysterious feeling brings The Calm Before the Storm, conveying anticipation and anxiety that precedes a catchy chorus. 

A nice bass solo that interchanges notes with the keyboard and great guitar riffs in What You Most Desire.

A good guitar solo, djent, and harmonics in The Conscience of Everything.   

I thought that Where Innocence Disappears was going to be a ballad, but was only the first part, then it became more of a progressive metal song that ends with some jewelry box music type of sounds.

A Middle Eastern feeling with Idle Mind. It has a strong presence on the keyboards. Heavy song at times.

Dissonant details in Synchrolife, with a melodic bridge. A good guitar solo and some progressive exquisite bass lines, all crowned with some haunted female choirs. All this mix provokes an unsettling feeling.

Inception. A calmer track to prepare to close the album, the last proper song, because The Departure is an instrumental piece that serves as an ending.

From the album cover to the themes of the lyrics, this is a dystopic album that mixes progressive metal with classic power metal sounds and even some electronic elements. An interesting return for this Italian band.

Rating: 7/10

Release Date: October 25, 2024

Released By: Reigning Phoenix Music

FFO: Symphony X, Evergrey, Kamelot

Tracklist

1) Frames of Humanity

2) Legacy of the World

3) The Day We Obscured the Sun

4) The Seed

5) I Wish

6) The Calm Before the Storm

7) What You Most Desire

8) The Conscience of Everything

9) Where Innocence Disappears

10) Idle Mind

11) Synchrolife

12) Inception

13) The Departure