I chose to listen to the CD “Maitri” from Italian SOULS OF DIOTIMA in various situations to understand the feelings that may emerge in two days, including offices, cars and travel by train and I found a CD that is fun and intressant, technical skill of the musicians is excellent, without exceptions, and the female singer Claudia Barsi has a very beautiful voice, perfect for the genre.

The track list:
1. Intro
2. Limit
3. Freedom Inside You
4. Maitri
5. Anti Asceticism
6. Deaf Humanity
7. Killing My Enemies
8. For Getting Back
9. Collateral
10. Nox

1. Intro: as a keyboardist, I appreciate a lot the orchestrationI opening of the album, creating the perfect atmosphere for a live show
2. Limit: The pace is pressing us to understand the band’s style and makes us discover the pleasant voice of the singer.
3. Freedom Inside You: in this passage the orchestrations, the singer’s vocal talents are perfectly blended, the strings of the keyboard and double bass create a very nice song.
4. Maitri: the album title, beginning with Eastern sounds that are then transformed through the rhythm guitar in a very progressive song load, even here the voice of Claudia Barsi fits well in.
5. Anti Asceticism: a piano opens the song in the best tradition way of symphonic metal, from there comes a precise and captivating piece that pushes the singer’s voice in tones that certainly aren’t possible for everyone.
6. Deaf Humanity: an interesting song, but perhaps it’s not what impressed me most in this album
7. Killing My Enemies: here we return instead to listen to a very beautiful and precious song, where the drummer certainly is having fun
8. For Getting Back: Another song that makes us appreciate the range and vocal abilities of the singer and the technical skills of her band, a good job
9. Collateral: the harpsichord brings back memories of Blind Guardian, a band that I loved and still love, so I like this song very much! There is a short bass solo, but that allows us to understand of what stuff it has been made
10. Nox: resume orchestral intro of the album and the song turns out to be purely an instrumental track. It  gives a free rein to the keyboard that can create orchestrations and situations with other musicians in the band

Review by Marco “Mastrowolf” Mariani

To read our recent interview with Souls of Diotima, please go HERE.

Metal Shock Finland’s Tarja Virmakari has commented the track “Killing My Enemies”: “Besides being the chief editor of Metal Shock Finland, I’m also the president of the no-profil Association “Rock Against Child Pornography” in Italy, … the world we are living today, sometimes and unfortunately, is very painful, I would say a real hell, to persons who have suffered an abuse or  a child exploitation, of any kind … I’ve listened to this song, several times … The warm and convincing voice of Claudia, the lyrics that cut and split the heart in thousand tears, the melodies that make you live the painful story on your own skin, all together render this song to something that touches the inner nuclear of your heart… and in a certain way I think, this song shouldn’t be included on this album, but it’s something more, it deserves to be listened to, apart and separately … THIS song has a happy end, but too many times the real, lived life doesn’t have it”.

Souls of Diotima – Killing My Enemies (OFFICIAL VIDEOCLIP)