Year: 2021
Total Time: 55:33
Label: Rock City Music Label

FORTUNATO is a heavy metal band from France, led by the bass player and singer Markus Fortunato. Markus is a part of the French metal scene since the late 80s with lots of albums on his back and he carries a history that draws a lot from the old school era.

In 2021 the band releases the album “Insurgency” through the relatively young French label Rock City Music and plays as a trio with Markus Fortunato on bass and vocals, Seb Vallée on guitars and David Amore on drums.

Their vocal style reminded me of Rolf Kasparek, but the music has little to do with Running Wild and the German power metal scene. The songs have generally a mid-tempo pace, the melodic lines draw a lot from the neo-classical subgenre, the guitars are the main instrumental element but they’re not all over the place, leaving enough space for the omnipresent “synth” to lay its sounds in a somewhat AOR way… Easy to remember choruses, NWOBHM influences sometimes very obvious (“My Mother was a Who”), sometimes hidden under the harmonic minor melodic passages so much related with the neo-classical style.

So, I’m starting with what I did like about “Insurgency”. There are some very strong songs in the album and I loved the straightforward approach “songwriting first-virtuosity later”. Songs like the opening “Carry on to the Depths of the Sea”, “For Eternity”, “A Star in the Sky” or “Insurgency” drew my attention from the first listen. The production supports the band’s vision sonically and the lyrics sometimes are personal and introverted and sometimes refer to the collective even historical experience (the track “Insurgency” is about the Paris Commune).

In its 11 tracks and 55 minutes of running time there were also parts that I didn’t like. I found the repetitiveness of the choruses sometimes tiresome and there were certain moments when I thought “no guys you mustn’t do that”, like for instance the maidenesque key change in the chorus of “My Mother was a Who”, the Europe-like synth intro on “Big Time” or the obvious neo-classical guitar licks that we’ve already heard a trillion times and fortunately appear sparsely in the album. Also, the strings and the choir when they have parts they seem to jump in and out of the composition somehow abruptly and the synths in my oppinion were also too much and not always thoughtfully orchestrated.

In conclusion I believe that “Insurgency” is a good album with some strong points, good songwriting, interesting lyrics and a lyrical nostalgia of the 90s. Unfortunately, sometimes it follows formulas that are already overplayed in the genre, lacking the melodic and harmonic originality that I personally seek as a listener. FORTUNATO have earned my attention with this release and I’ll wait their next one.

Rating: 6,5/10
Editor: Yiannis Tziallas
Related Link: FORTUNATO – Facebook Page