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The Wanderer, Diabulus in Musica's second album from 2012, was well played but the songwriting was very generic, an issue that's been addressed quite well on this Spanish band's 2014 follow-up, Argia. The playing remains top notch, nothing less than is expected of Gothic/Symphonic Metal, but now Diabulus in Musica has songs worthy of their talent. There's a definite Lord of the Rings soundtrack theme in the opener "Resurrexit (Libera Me)" that can also be heard cropping up in some of the other songs, but, for the most part, this is heavy, briskly played Metal. "From the Embers," the first proper song, is a dream with fantastic vocals and a slick melody that had me tapping my foot immediately. The beauty and beast vocals are still in evidence, though the beast has been toned down, and we get more of Zuberoa Aznárez' amazing range. On songs like "Inner Force" she meshes with the heavy music as easily as Sabine Edelsbacher while on "Healing" she hits high operatic notes as effortlessly as Tarja Turunen. There is still some filler ("Eternal Breeze") but, like its predecessor, Argia closes with a beautiful ballad, "Indigo."

Argia is a huge step forward for Diabulus in Musica and fans of Epica, Xandria, etc. will certainly find it worth their while to give it a few spins.