In the not far future, mankind has left earth for the planet Evadera. It is on that planet that the tales told by AQUILLA are happening. For some strange reason the debut full-length of AQUILLA, “Mankind’s Odyssey”, wasn’t reviewed on these very pages. Strange, because it was one of the best Heavy Metal albums released in 2022 – and such deserves praise all over. I was a tad frightened to put on this new release from the Polish squadron, as I was a fan of the vocals on the first album, and the early works of the band – those vocals were delivered by Blash Raven, who left the band a couple of years ago. The replacement is Captain Paradox, and to be honest, he actually does a great job, even though I had to give “Sentinels Of New Dawn” some spins, to get to that conclusion. When we are at the line-up, the only original member left in the band is drummer Pete Slammer – and since the inception of “Mankind’s Odyssey”, guitarist Chris Scanner has been replaced by Jaspar De Phaser. With that in mind, it is incredible how the quality and linear progression of the band has been kept intact. AQUILLA is as New Wave Of Traditional Heavy Metal as it gets. Highly catchy and melodic tunes, great guitar riffs that lays a solid base, nice licks and great leads and solos. The bass and drums are keeping it tight and groovy, and get a little shine here and there. The vocals are powerful and on point. The recipe is so damn simple – though takes an effort and hard work to perfect – and AQUILLA has done their homework, both in terms of knowing their Heavy Metal history, getting a handle on their instruments and writing good and catchy songs, that stick. Epic Sci-Fi themed Heavy Metal, done the exact way I like it – more synth intros and intermezzos wouldn’t do anything bad for me. Perhaps even synth incorporated into the music… Though it is always nice to have something to anticipate. For now, it all hits a perfect circle. Now we just need to get the two EPs “The Day We Left Earth” and “Saviors Of The Universe” released on vinyl, so the whole discography is on wax. Fly, on your way, like an eagle: www.facebook.com/aquillaofficial, www.facebook.com/hrrecords