DELAIN: We Are The Others (MELODIC HARD ROCK): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

Despite the departure of the band's only guitarist and bassist and the arrival of two six-stringed players and a man with four strings to replace them, Delain didn't change its style and offers us a hyper melodious Symphonic Hard-Rock, in the vein of today's Within Temptation. At most, we can feel a darkening of the atmosphere and the lyrics, even if the melodies remain catchy, perhaps due to the event that guided the inspiration of the group on this third part, the murder of a young Gothic girl. The title of the album is in his honour.

Martijn Westerholt, the former keyboarder of Within Temptation, is still on board and redhead Charlotte Wessels has rid her voice of the few illuminations that too often erased her undeniable talents. Unlike most of her colleagues, she handles lyrical flights with restraint. Most of the time, she remains focused on a viola register that she masters with ease by imposing her qualities as a storyteller, which allow her to spread a diversified range of emotions.

Listening to this album leaves us with a sense of unity, the band's choice to think about it together during the many tours that have flourished after "April Rain", then to record it in unison without using the modern "individualistic" approaches that are in use today (each member of the combo working in their own corner to then see their work ed in the middle of that of the other members). Jacob Hellner produced the album and his work with Rammstein and Apocalyptica left a few traces on "We Are The Others" which offers, here and there, some keyboard sounds "industrial Heavy". However, the organic shades of the opus are mostly those of a symphonic Hard-Rock, often in mid-tempo, epic, sometimes sprinkled with Pop and melodically galvanizing. The atmospheres are, therefore, very engaging, emphasis and grandiloquence (in the good sense of the word) being the guidelines of the songs.

The hit songs are legion ("We Are The Others", "Generation Me", "Babylon", "Not Enough"...), the thundering guitar/keyboard introductions are surging ("Mother Machine", "Electicity", "Generation Me"...) and above all, no weak track disrupts this beautiful ensemble. At most, we can simply regret Burton C's big voice. Bell from Fear Factory on "Where Is The Blood".

Here is a beautiful record to discover and a band to follow closely, especially live whose energy and sincerity of its members has allowed them to establish a reputation that continues to soar. - Official website

DELAIN

WE ARE THE OTHERS

ROADRUNNER RECORDS

MELODIC HARD ROCK