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La Janara — La Donne Magiche
(Black Widow BWR282, 2025, CD / LP / DL)

by Henry Schneider, Published 2025-11-26

La Donne Magiche Cover art

Six years after releasing their debut album Tenebra, the Italian heavy prog-metal band La Janara released their second full length album, Le Donne Magiche (The Magical Women) in May 2025. Over the past six years La Janara has matured their sound, distancing themselves from the dark evil atmosphere of Tenebra, as well as moving away from Black Sabbath, though some hints remain. They now favor more of a folk influence mixed with heavy metal and prog. Many of the songs begin with a gentle, sometimes acoustic, intro before launching into edgy and raucous playing. I do sense an element of Black Sabbath on the opening track “Serpe” before they calm things down a bit. The album single “Le Castagne Non Cadono Più” is energetic raw rock with some Metallica percussive guitar influences. There are many new and interesting moments across the album, such as the Hammond organ interlude on “Io Sono la Strega,” the dark and minimal intro to “Bruceremo,” one of my favorite tracks, the acoustic guitar intro that evolves into a martial call to action of “Mò Che Viene Agosto,” and the medieval vibe of “Inverno.” Though Raffaella Càngero’s lovely vocals carry the majority of the tracks, the final cut “Domens” features guitarist Nicola Vitale on vocals for a Western gothic metal blend. Quite an interesting album, especially for fans of prog-metal.

Filed under: New releases, 2025 releases

Related artist(s): La Janara

More info
http://lajanara.bandcamp.com/album/le-donne-magiche

 

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