VIGILHUNTER
“Vigilhunter”
Album Review by Iron Mathew

9/10

Vigilhunter are a heavy/power metal band from Italy formed by Hitten vocalist Alexx Panza, releasing the bands self titled debut album in 2025.

Performing vocal and guitar duties, Alexx is joined by guitarist Mattia Itala (Re-Animated), bass player Mirko Negrino (ex Endovein, ex Ruler), and drummer Marcello “Cell” Leocani (ex Walpurgis Night) – the album forty minutes and nine songs long. If you’re a fan of bands such as Crimson Glory, Fates Warning and Queensryche, methinks you’re gonna quickly become a fan of Vigilhunter too…

…the one minute instrumental ‘Loading…Error 403’ building a mellow crescendo of anticipation, the mellowness becoming heavier and heavier until a searing guitar riff tears the airways apart as ‘Disconnected’ thunders into sight featuring the hustle and bustle style of heavy metal – Vigilhunter standing tall and proud right in the heart of metal territory! An eye and ear opening gambit to grab the attentions of listeners all around the world, ‘Vigilhunter’ launched with immense energy, the power driven metal style meaning business as the album marches on with the more melodic ‘Titan Glory’, the band increasing the majesty level tenfold! And even though the opening brace are one hundred percent metal, they’re from different areas within the metal genre, Vigilhunter not content to just standstill, they’re on the prowl with what looks like considerable variation on their minds.

And with energy levels running at maximum, the album roars on at full throttle with ‘Shadow Rider (Vigilante)’, Vigilhunter planting their feet firmly on the old school heavy metal monitor here to adopt the iconic gallop of traditional metal – the band weaving a forty year old sound into their very modern roots, fans of all ages finding the Italian’s brand of metal music both appealing and attractive! Dropping a gear, the band stride majestically on with the mid tempo ‘Curse Of The Street’, a more bouncy feel descending upon the album as Vigilhunter bring a little sleaze come glam metal to the fore – think legendary bands such as nineties era Mötley Crüe, Poison and Skid Row for a sound reference! And with a dramatic drop in energy and power, ‘Sacrifice For Love’ strides straight into balladry – for all of the first thirty seconds or so, ‘Sacrifice For Love’ making an immediate u-turn right back into metal territory, Vigilhunter playing with listeners emotions just for a moment! Seriously though, the band are in their element here, delivering mid tempo, heavy hitting and emphatic power metal to rock heads and plant smiles a mile wide on the faces of every listener, fan and follower on the fucking planet!

The band are hot to trot right now, ‘So Cold…It Burns’ bringing tension and chills to the fore as it pounds the ground hard with a level of menace not heard previously – not scary menace, just enough to make you take a short sharp breath! The intensity of the album since it began has been spot on too, ‘Vigilhunter’ holding everyone’s attentions in a vice like grip, ‘Outburst Of Rage’ doing exactly what it says in the title! The burst of energy is raw, the abrasive nature rougher than everything heard so far, ‘Too Fast For Love’ era Mötley Crüe springing immediately to mind! The urgency, pace and purpose is phenomenal, the band taking no prisoners here as the longest song on offer ‘The Downfall’ enters the fray! Clocking in at over six minutes in length, ‘The Downfall’ roams all over metal territory to deliver the most varied song on ‘Vigilhunter’ – the band not limiting themselves to just the one area, preferring to act like nomads and constantly travel from one place to the next searching out new and fresh ideas with which to please a worldwide audience.

Overall, an infectious and robust array of heavy metal with immense passion and drive along with a sky high energy level.

TRACKLIST

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Disconnected
Titan Glory
Shadow Rider (Vigilante)
Curse Of The Street
Sacrifice For Love
So Cold…It Burns
Outburst Of Rage
The Downfall

https://www.facebook.com/vigilhunterband

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