Black Jester - Diary Of A Blind Angel


Year of Release: 1992
Label: Music Is Intelligence/WMMS
Catalog Number: WMMS 021
Format: CD
Total Time: 46:22:00

Further disproving the impression that I like everything I hear, I offer up Black Jester. For the purpose of reviewing past releases, I thought I'd give Diary Of A Blind Angel another spin, in part to see if my inital impression had changed in the year or so since I last played it.

It hasn't. I'd like to like it - some of the music is very good, but the vocalist, Alex "The Jester" D'Este, hasn't really got a singing voice that lends itself to repeated listenings.

As one can tell by the name, there is a Marillion influence - if in name only. Only bits here and there are Marillion-esque; most of this is harder edged metal a la Dream Theater and Metallica. There are moments, but moments don't an album make.

The lyrics, too, are weak. Trying for arty poeticism of Fish, et al, they come off instead as very amateur (and very much written by a non-native English speaker). Makes you wish they'd written in their native Italian and not bothered with the English. But, English sells and is more conducive to rock. [or so conventional wisdom suggests]

The production here is rather muddy, sounds almost live actually, rather than a studio recording. Because they don't have a strong vocalist, it is actually a good thing that the vocals are lost amongst the rest of the instruments.

Unfortunately, there isn't very much to recommend this to anyone, except for a few moments here and there.

[The band have recently renamed themselves Moonlight Circus, with a new vocalist. -ed]


Tracklisting:
Night Voices (6:43) / The Tower And The Minstrel (7:48) / Diary Of A Blind Angel (6:00) / Time Theater (a) King Of Eternity (b) (10:22) / Mother Moon (7:08) / Black Jester Opera (8:11)

Musicians:
Alex 'The Jester' D'Este - vocals
Alberto Masiero - drums
Gil Teso - bass
Nick Angel - keyboards
Paolo Viani - guitars

Discography:
Diary Of A Blind Angel (1992)
Welcome To The Moonlight Circus (1994)
Divine Comedy (1997)
Outskirts Of Reality (2000) (as Moonlight Circus)

Genre: Progressive-Power Metal

Origin IT

Added: July 25th 1999
Reviewer: Stephanie Sollow
Score:
Artist website: welcome.to/moonlightcircus
Hits: 3539
Language: english

  

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