Release date: 28th March 2025

The self-titled debut album of Vigilhunter comes rolling in 28th of March 2025, signed to the label High Roller Records. Italian singer/guitarist Alexx Panza is also the singer of Hitten, but now Vigilhunter starts off almost as a solo project, where Panza sings and plays all the guitars on the album. Mirko Negrino plays bass, Marcello Leocani plays drums and as a second guitarist the band is complete with Mattia Itala. 

Review

This must be one of the best debut albums out there! The album “Vigilhunter” features a crystal clear production with some 80’s – 90’s inspired American Heavy Metal. This one is for the Queensrÿche lovers, but the Hitten singer Alexx Panza can really hit the high notes of Sebastian Bach in his prime. Some of the songs could easily have been a B-side on Slave to the grind by Skid Row.

The first song of the album (as well as the first single!) Disconnected kicks off with a classic heavy metal riff featuring some cool pinch harmonics and a really fast and tight twin guitar melody. This is some real guitargod shredding! It is a fantastic surprise that the lead vocalist possesses this shreddiness in the fingers. When the vocals kick in I recognize the vocal style directly, reminiscing of 80s American heavy/power metal. The falsetto chorus of ‘disconnecteeeed’ is really sticking to my mind, showcasing this to be a song being added to playlists for years to come. There is of course an instrumental part with extremely tight guitar playing and a nice melodic and fast guitar solo. The phrasing is really precise and I really love new music to come out with this kind of quality in every aspect. 

Titan Glory is the second song, and also the second single of the album. The chorus is not really the catchy sing-along style that I loved with Disconnected but this song showcase a much broader sonic palette with a clean electric guitar first verse, with a much softer touch. The vocals are still intense, matching the ballad style perfectly. What really wins me over with this song is again the guitars, it is so extremely tightly played, with fantastic melodies and phrasing. There are twin guitar harmonies, a lot of pinch harmonics, and a fast shreddy guitar solo. There is a cool part just before the last chorus, with a twin guitar melody and only bass/drum backing, without rhythm guitars. This part sticks to my mind as a cool sonic break reminding me of Iron Maiden and their twin guitar melodies backed by Steve Harris.

The third song of the album Shadow Rider and is another great sing-along with a great chorus and one song that I think many people would love to add to their playlists. There is a real cool and shreddy guitar solo that is creating fast and dissonant tones that make this a new addition in the sonic palette. This song does not really showcase any great instrumental melodies like the first two songs, but the chorus really lifts this song to another level.

Curse of the Street really reminds me of Skid Row in so many ways. The long luring vocal lines and the fantastic vocal quality reminds me of Sebastian Bach in his prime, and this could easily have been a B-side to Slave to the Grind. The rhythm of the main riff is pumping on and on, making this a great track to bring to the gym. The instrumental part is really interesting being a solo that goes on-and-off, bringing space for the excellent drumming and bass to showcase the really tight playing and crystal clear production.

On a softer note, the song Sacrifice for Love starts off as a ballad, with softly nuanced vocals. This is also another addition to the overall sound of the album, it is an extremely well executed and well produced power ballad that really fit the whole 80s – 90s American heavy metal. This song wins me over with its great versatility, with fantastic guitar melodies, a catchy chorus, great emotion in the vocals – especially in the verses. Of course every power ballad has a guitar solo, and this one is precisely executed with shreddy notes ending with the main theme melody of the song. 

So Cold…it Burns follows the same style with soft ballad-style verses with clean guitars. The rest of the song is really different though. The distorted guitars are really heavy and the bridge before the chorus goes up high in the falsetto. The chorus is a great gang vocal, and I think this could be a great crowd pleaser for live gigs, where the crowd goes “So cold … it burns!”.

Outburst of Rage is like a mix-n-match, where it feels like I can hear references from Judas Priest, Guns’n’Roses and Skid Row. Still, it is not a copy of any of those bands, it is hard to define but there is something unique about Vigilhunter.

The last song of the album is The Downfall which is another slow song starting off twin guitar melodies and soft vocals. It is one of the longest and one reason is the 1.5 minute instrumental part, where the lead guitar really takes over. I get the feel that the mixing engineer got the instruction to mix the lead guitar as high as possible – and in a good way! With band politics and a long history of band members with strong wills, a lot of music that comes out is often a big compromise for everyone in the band to be heard. I don’t think so in this case, maybe this album was created as a solo project at first, with a minimum of politicking and a maximixing of the artistic vision. This is probably one of the reasons this album is so good, it is very tight and cohesive with a clear artistic vision. I would love to see how this band fares in the long run, with live gigs and new releases, because this is one of the best albums of the year.

Conclusion

This might be the debut album of the year, for all the lovers of Queensrÿche and Skid Row. The production is so extremely good, and it is really fantastic that Alexx Panza can contribute with both first class vocals and extremely tight and shreddy guitar playing. The album is showcasing the whole style of 80s – 90s American heavy metal with both uptempo songs and ballads. Although the songs have a lot of influences and references, this is not a copycat band, it is definitely original and can stand on its own. I think this band will be fantastic to see live and the songs will be added to playlists and listened to for years to come.

TheNwothm Score: 9.7/10

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vigilhunterband

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Label: https://www.hrrecords.de