243 days till W:O:A 2023.
With Dutch band Delain I am writing my first article in the category of symphonic metal. Coming from Deicide and Defleshed to Delain was quite a turn and it took me a couple of days to open up to this very different kind of metal. I picked Delain's latest studio album Apocalypse & Chill from 2020 and when I played the album for the first time my first thought was "Sounds like Within Temptation". Yeah, guess what - Delain was founded in 2002 by Martijn Westerhold, ex-keyboarder of Within Temptation and brother of Within Temptation co-founder and guitarist Robert Westerhold. Within Temptation was a band you could not get around when being a teenager in 2000. The song Ice Queen was everywhere and I quite hated it to be honest. So, thinking of Within Tempation was actually not the best first association for me. However, Within Temptation were and are one of the greatest representatives for symphonic metal and Delain are in no way inferior to them.
Symphonic metal is a relatively broad term and not an official subgenre of metal. It is used for any metal band that incorporates symphonic elements in their music. We've come across symphonic black metal with Dimmu Borgir for example. Together with black metal the genres of power metal, gothic metal and death metal tend to bring out the most bands that use symphonic elements. Symphonic instruments, choirs, synthesizers and keyboards are key features. Female or operatic vocals are often included. The focus of symphonic metal lies on the symphonic instruments and vocals; bass, drums and guitars play a less important role. Symphonic metal songs are also big on atmosphere and perfect for film scores. The songs are mostly uplifting, catchy and accessible.
Best example for all of the above: The album opener One Second. Heard once, you cannot stop singing it. The chorus is insanely catchy as are the riffs and rhythms. Vocalist Charlotte Wessels provides strong and poppy vocals, backed up by guitarist Timo Somers' clean vocals, throwing in the odd scream here and there. The keyboards provide kind of an 80s feeling. The mixture between heavy guitars and drums and poppy vocals and keyboards can be heard throughout the whole album.
The sound of Apocalypse & Chill is very synth driven. Wessel's voice works really well in this combination. Synth and vocals absolutely complement each other and are the main components of this album. The overall album feeling is very melodic and poppy, interspersed with some heavy guitar riffs. Despite those riffs and the odd guitar solos the album is not a particularly heavy one. It is very radio-friendly and easy to listen to.
My favourite on Apocalypse & Chill is the third song Chemical Redemption. It starts with some pretty 80s disco electro stuff and stomping guitars which are more audible during this song than in others. This song is a pretty cool mix of totally different musical elements that work really well together. The keyboards reminded me of the kind of music I listenend to during my teenage Gothic years and actually got me to play The Birthday Massacre again whom I haven't listend to anymore since 2005 but will now definitely do again more often!
Another song that stood out to me was the second song We Had Everything. This is by fare the most pop influenced song on this album, very keyboardy. Drums and guitars really play a minor role here, it is all about synth, vocals and keyboards.
To be honest, I didn't care much for this song at first, but it really grows on you. It is just very fun and easy to listen to and puts you in a good mood despite the lyrics.
I can find parts I really like in nearly all songs, although not all are memorable and with 56 minutes the album is just a bit too long for my taste. Burning Bridges features a part where the choir and strings work really well (2:41) whereas To Live Is To Die is another one of those really Gothic-y songs I like. The album in its entirety is not too theatrical (with regards to symphonic metal) and the electropop influences actually work pretty well.
There is a lot going on on Apocalypse & Chill and it really took me a few spins before I could appreciate it for what it is. If you are looking for a heavy album to blow off some steam, this is not the right one. If you are looking for music with a strong female vocalist, melodic guitars, cleverly layered vocals and properly used synthesizers and symphonic elements, then this is good album for you. This is a pretty great gateway band for metalheads-to-be.
Kommentar schreiben
Tanja (Freitag, 02 Dezember 2022 12:06)
Thanks for bringing them back on my radar! It’s been a while…
Izzy (Samstag, 03 Dezember 2022 07:47)
@Tanny - I actually thought of you whilst writing this as I was relatively sure you'd like them :-)