Delain April Rain
by Franco Wissa
Staff Writer
By way of comparison, Sirenia’s The 13th Floor, Unsun’s The End of Life and Within Temptation’s The Heart of Everything, the Netherlands Delain’s sophomore effort April Rain could very easily be placed on the same playing field as any of the mentioned. The sound is lush, layered, energetic, and grandiose in its design and the music flows easily throughout. The keyboards are magnificent; the guitar power chords give a metal edge to what otherwise is a release symphonic in its delivery. This of course is to be expected with band members from such metal and symphonic bands like Sun Caged, (bassist Rob Loo,) and Within Temptation (keyboardist Martijn Westerholt,) featured prominently throughout.
Straight out of the box, the listener finds themselves drawn in with the sounds of the opening title track, “April Rain.” With an intro of soft piano with interesting sound effects that quickly cascades into what becomes a colossal symphonic metal track. At: 45 seconds the music takes a slight backseat and into focus comes the voice of Charlotte Wessels. And good lord, what a voice. Ardent, vigorous and crystal clear, it is her voice that makes this track one of this CD’s highlights. This is a track that shines in everyway imaginable. From the vocals, to the (albeit short) guitar solo, the double bass drums to the frenetic bass – one would find themselves hard-pressed not to reach for the volume knob. It rocks hard in all the right places and at the same time, fans of symphonic metal will want to go back to this track again and again.
Things keep up with track 2, “Stay Forever,” a track little more melodic than the preceding as here one hears more layers of rich vocals. The drums of Sander Zoer are astonishing here as time and again he shows that he is indeed a talent to be reckoned with. He proves that he can hit the drums hard and even more importantly use his drums to accent a certain passage, a vocal harmony and an emotion. And do it all while keeping the band track rocking hard. The use of what sounds like a china cymbal at the very end of the track was a superb choice.
And then comes track 3 “Invidia,” and this time it is the keyboards that are the highlight of this particular track. Telling the story of a girl in the conflict of love and wonder, for the first time thus far the vocals of Martijn Westerholt are heard in accompaniment. Other highlights of this great release include the layers of rich vocals heard on “Go Away,” the guitar heavy “Lost,” the gorgeous pianos of “Virtue and Vice,” and “Come Closer,” the give and take of the vocals between Wessels and Westerholt of “Nothing Left,” and the hard rocker intro that transcends into the balladish “I’ll Reach You.” The emotional vocals of Charlotte Wessels are the focal point of “I’ll Reach You.” Here she shines, and the power and range heard during the chorus is stunning.
Delain’s April Rain is a superb release. For fans of female fronted symphonic metal this should be one of your first reaches. There’s really not a bad track to be heard, thanks in part to the vocals, and the sincerity of the musicianship, the songwriting and the delivery of the music. One could argue that more use of the guitar might be welcomed, in that it would have been nice to hear more guitar solos. But in the defense of the band, having more guitar solos would have taken this from a symphonic metal release to a hard rocking release. And the band, wanting to stay true to the sounds of a symphony do a great job in keeping within the parameters of what makes a symphonic metal band. Multi-faceted keyboards, monster sized guitar power chords, pounding drums and layers and layers of rich vocals. The music flowed and the sound was extravagant and vast. THOSE are the sounds that make a symphonic release, and thus, this was a true treat.
Band Members:
Charlotte Wessels – vocals
Sander Zoer – drums
Rob Van der Loo – bass
Martijn Westholt – keyboards
Ronald Landa – guitars
Label: Sensory Records
Track Listing:
April Rain
Stay Forever
Invidia
Control the Storm
On the Other Side
Virtue and Vice
Go Away
Start Swimming
Lost
I’ll Reach You
Come Closer
HRH Rating: 9/10