Reading about melodic Italian metal I almost immediately think about power metal in Rhapsody-style. Fortunately Hollow Haze is different and has nothing to do with that metal style. Melodic they are for sure, but they have more 80's and 90's metal influences. It starts with vocalist Ramon Sonato, who has a warm sounding metal voice, a bit in Jorn Lande style, sometimes clean sounding but always with a rough edge.
Bands like Dio, Yngwie Malmsteen, Pretty Maids, Masterplan, Rainbow and Symphony X enter my mind when I am listening to the several songs. Take for example the track "Open Your Eyes", one of the better ones in my opinion. It has a heavy drive and the vocals sound very convincing. Although the band uses old influences, it never sounds ancient; they put a modern vibe to it. The band stands with both feet in this century and I am sure there will be enough metal fans who like this album. The older readers of this site might recognize the title "Gates of Babylon" and indeed you are right, that is a cover song of...... A nice effort by this band, but of course it doesn't beat the original version.
Recommended if you like the bands mentioned above.
