Labyrinth is the third full-length album by Italian technical death metal band Fleshgod Apocalypse. It was released on August 16, 2013, through Nuclear Blast. Concept The album is a concept album based upon the labyrinth of Knossos and the characters related to the associated myth. Guitarist and vocalist Tommaso Riccardi said "We focused on the philological aspect in order to represent all the elements of the classic world and, through a manic and meticulous research, we managed to create a metaphor with our times, as the maze can be associated with the endless search for what we really are Fleshgod Apocalypse's third full-length, Labyrinth, offers another helping of the Italians' take on symphonic death metal. That being, mostly high-speed, frantic blast fests, Baroque neoclassical melodies, and surprisingly little atonality. In short, beyond both bands strongly adhering to the same two sub-genres they combine and probably being the biggest two names in out-and-out symphonic death metal for very good reason (along with having another member of the band perform mediocre cleans that somehow work very well with what they're doing), Fleshgod have very little in common with their cousins across the Ionian Sea, Septicflesh. That being said, Labyrinth is not Fleshgod's best work. The excellent 'Pathfinder' sees Fleshgod use one of their most proficient weapons, that being speed, to excellent effect. The song is well-structured, immediately drawing the listener in with its bombast and keeping them hooked throughout. From here on, Labyrinth really is a top quality record, and the listener is given some much needed breathing space en route to the finish line with the classical guitar-led 'Prologue'. Of course, anyone who has browsed the track listing will have noticed that 'Pathfinder', being track no. 6 and thus virtually the album's mid-point, might be picking up on the issue at hand. That being the first half of the album, which offers one fine highlight in the shape of 'Minotaur (The Wrath of Poseidon)', but is otherwise not particularly great. One is left with the feeling that, having written six or seven songs they were very much proud of, Fleshgod ran out of both time and ideas and ending up defaulting to their two favourite weapons - speed and technical skill - to write the last few tracks required to fill out the album. None are exactly bad, but it is unfortunately that these tracks all ended up in the first half of the album, which too often feels like an uneven, frantic mess. Perhaps only more ironic than it being a literal labyrinth is that the only highlight is named 'Minotaur'. It's a shame that the first half of the album might just be a bit off-putting as, with the aforementioned 'Pathfinder' being the turning point, the second half of the album has everything one would want from Fleshgod Apocalypse - a high display of speed and technical ability, yes, but also well-crafted, entertaining, memorable symphonic death metal songs with a good degree and variety and a strong sense of the epic. It's difficult to follow the lyrical concept of Perseus and the Labyrinth of Knossos without resorting to the liner booklet, and the more Renaissance-styled music that Fleshgod offer is an odd combination with the subject matter, but it's hardly an issue. Personally, I prefer to see extreme metal bands write about more interesting subjects than anger, blood and guts. Musically, the band are on point. Now-frontman and then-drummer Francesco Paoli is an absolute machine behind the kit, displaying near limitless energy and a whole lot of technical ability. Guitarists Tommaso Riccardi and Christiano Trionfera, along with keyboardist Francesco Ferrini, are clearly very talented musicians, although Paolo Rossi's bass is virtually inaudible in the cacophony of guitars, vocals and keyboards, and as there are almost no passages where the bass is not playing under the guitars, any basslines he might have written are obscured. Vocally, Riccardi is more than competent, if generic (listen to Paoli's vocals from Veleno onwards, there's almost no difference) on the death growls, and whereas Rossi's unbelievably high cleans would normally be considered pretty bad, they are strangely well-suited to the music here. Bordacchini is better on later releases, although this is less to do with her ability level at this point in time, and more to do with the fact that it's incredibly difficult for operatic vocals to keep up with such frenetic music. All things considered, she does what is asked of her and, as always, her vocal sections stand out. Of course, with the three vocalists offering death growls, bizarre high-pitched squeals and opera, respectively, the majority of the lyrics are incomprehensibly delivered, so only by actually reading the lyrics can one follow the concept of the Labyrinth of Knossos (central location of the myth of Perseus and the Minotaur). Overall, it's hard not to feel a little frustrated with Labyrinth. There's plenty of what Fleshgod Apocalypse does well here, but it's largely restricted to the great second half of the album, as too much of the first half is messy, incoherent, and fails to give the listener enough time to breathe. Unless you're in need of some high-speed energetic music (i.e. listening material for the gym, or something), you are probably best experiencing Labyrinth by starting off on 'Minotaur (The Wrath of Poseidon)' and then skipping through to 'Pathfinder'. Not Fleshgod Apocalypse's best work, but there's still plenty for fans to enjoy.