Delain - April Rain
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CD Details
Artist: DelainEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown)
CD Release Date: 2009-06-30
Music Label: Sensory Records
Soundtracks:
- April Rain
- Stay Forever
- Invidia
- Control the Storm
- On the Other Side
- Virtue and Vice
- Go Away
- Start Swimming
- Lost
- I'll Reach You
- Nothing Left
- Come Closer [*]
Music reviews of April Rain
Music Review: Lighter approach to symphonic metal...
Rating: 3 Stars
I first heard about Dutch symphonic metal band Delain through both Facebook and Amazon. I was constantly being bombarded by Facebook ads about the band since I belong to symphonic metal fan groups and have added several band fan pages. On Amazon, whenever I would check out my recommendations, Delain's April Rain was, 9 times out of 10, the top suggestion. I resisted for several months, citing the fact that I didn't know anything about the band, the general lack of information about them online and the fact that they were always advertised as the band from the "former keyboardist of Within Temptation." While I'm a big WT fan, it seems like singer Sharon den Adel and her partner and guitarist Robert Westerholt are the driving creative talent behind WT, so what could I expect from the "former keyboardist"?
I finally decided to do some research on Delain, and found that the WT former keyboardist is actually Robert's brother Martijin, who had left the band due to a chronic illness in 2001. After meeting then-relatively-unknown singer Charlotte Wessels, the pair formed Delain. Originally begun as a studio project, Delain's first album, Lucidity (which I haven't heard) was filled with guest appearances (notably by Sharon den Adel, Marco Hietala of Nghtwish and Liv Kristine of Leaves' Eyes). After success, Martijin and Charlotte decided to add band members, step out and become a touring band. That was the goal with April Rain -to help Delain become most established as a unique band rather than just a project.
At first listen, April Rain is barely a symphonic metal album, in fact, I would call in more of a rock album with some heavier moments, a lighter, more "pop" type feel and a few symphonic elements. Probably the best way to think of it is to consider April Rain as "Within Temptation light." It's not as heavy, intense, or emotional as most bands in the symphonic metal genre and tends to go more toward the "commercial," which many fans of the genre won't be too happy about.
For me, Delain's April Rain was a mixed bag. There were good and bad things. First, it's hard to really stand out in a genre that's saturated with so many established, talented bands and, as much as newer acts may hate it, they will always be compared to older bands, particularly Nightwish and, in the case of Delain, Within Temptation. Compared to these two bands, which are genre favorites for me, Delain's April Rain is very average. The music is good, and even has some flashes of awesome, but doesn't have the raw emotion or intensity that these other bands can evoke with virtually every song.
The biggest problem I had with this album was that it just felt overproduced, particularly with Charlotte's vocals. It felt like I couldn't hear or understand her for about 80% of the CD because of the mixing and production. When I actually did get to hear her voice, particularly on "On the Other Side," it was gorgeous. Sure, it's not a classically-trained opera voice, but it's still pure and amazing -I just wish that I got to hear more of that than production. Several songs also felt like they were just a little too overdone -kind of like the band had so many ideas, but weren't able to effectively edit them down for each song so some songs became just too much. If they would have taken out some of these ideas and broken them up, I'm sure there would have been potential for even more music -that could even be better!
Also note that there is a guest appearance by Marco Hietala of Nightwish (on "Control the Storm" and "Nothing Left"). Marco's vocals, as intriguing as always, don't seem to add much while Delain guitarist Ronald Landa's growls take the album to a completely different place ("Virtue and Vice") and just doesn't fit at all (his clean vocal on "Invidia" is better). I could honestly have done without any the male vocal work and just stuck with Charlotte. If Delain wants a duet with a male vocalist, maybe they should consider Mario Plank from Visions of Atlantis or Keith Caputo who sung with Sharon den Adel on "What Have You Done Now?" -I think they would fit the musical type (and work with Charlotte) better.
There are a few high points here, and I can't ignore those. Title song "April Rain" is incredibly fun and catchy -it kept getting stuck in my head and I would have a great time singing to it on the way to work. I really found a way to invest in this song, particularly the music itself, though it is a bit unoriginal, light and "commercial" (which would turn off many hardcore metal fans, but hey, I have to admit I like this song). Also, "On the Other Side" shows off Charlotte's vocals the best in its raw form. I loved the sound of her voice over all the strings, which made up the "core" of the song, and I finally felt like the band found a way for Charlotte to really engage with the symphonic aspect of the music. Of course, it would bother some that this has a more "pop" type sound, particularly around the chorus, but the rest of the song makes up for it in my mind. "Lost" is the last highlight. The song starts out with a pulse-pounding metal opening before leading into a lighter melody that carries Charlotte through the song. Again, I like this song because I can hear Charlotte more, I love the piano work, and I really thought "Lost" did the best job of keeping all the elements together without becoming a big mess.
April Rain is good for when I'm in a little bit lighter mood, but tends to be average for the most part. I've listened to this album several times now in an attempt to give Delain more chances (I really wanted to like it more). Maybe it would grow on me, like Visions of Atlantis' Trinity album. Heck, it even took a few listens before I became a Nightwish fan! But alas, I couldn't quite get to that magical place with Delain's April Rain. After a week of trying, when I put in the CD I listen to "April Rain" and sometimes flip to "The Other Side" and "Lost," but don't always get through them before I want to switch CDs. I really think that Delain could become better with future albums -I'm excited to see where they go -but they aren't quite there yet.
Description of April Rain
U.S. pressing includes the exclusive bonus track 'Come Closer'. 2009 release, the much anticipated sophomore album from this band led by ex-Within Temptation keyboardist Martijn Westerholt. With Charlotte Wessels on vocals, Ronald Landa on guitar and grunt vocals, Sun Caged bassist Rob Vander Loo and Sander Zoer on drums, Delain took Europe by storm. April Rain is THE symphonic Gothic Metal album of 2009. The album debuted on the Dutch Top 100 charts at #14 and at #1 on the Dutch Alternative Charts. The band just completed a tour as support of Kamelot which was immediately followed by their European headlining tour.Alternative Rock CDs
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