I'm not going to tell you the story of 'Delain' again because, to see all the chronicles published on the web on their last album, everything is said. In summary then, 'Dark Waters' is a 'Delain 2.0' studio recording masterfully directed by the conductor 'Martijn Westerholt', who gave us an excellent 'Legends of Light' in 2022 with his project 'Eye Of Melian'. In parallel, the former singer 'Charlotte Wessels' continues her solo career and her second album 'Tales from Six Feet Under Vol. II' which shows a very diverse face of this jack-of-all-trades artist. So, what's up with this new line up of 'Delain'? I dare say, not much but this might be taken negatively when this is finally good news since we left the old 'Delain' with 'Apocalypse & Chill' in 2020 and this new baby, from my point of view, is completely in line with its illustrious predecessor.
We had already had a glimpse of it six months before with the release of the first single 'The Quest And The Curse' (see the video above) which was pure 'Delain' and, at the time, I made this silly thought to myself when I heard the new singer 'Dianah Leah' in a register that seemed very familiar to me: "Hey, they've reinstated Charlotte at 'Delain'". Yes because, if you listen to the first verse, we found exactly the same phrasing and the same intonations of voice and, melodically, this title could very well have been part of 'Human Contradiction' from 2014 or 'Moonbathers' from 2016. 3 months ago, 'Beneath' (see video here) confirmed this feeling with a new composition unfolding a powerful sound with a chorus that fits easily in the head, and 'Moth To A Flame' (see the video here), about a month ago, drove the point home with a new melodic gem that would certainly have made a hit in the 80s in a more moderate style. Finally, 'Queen Of Shadow' (see the video here), again saw the appearance of the 'Charlotte Wessells' clone with a new hit that had nothing to envy to its predecessor. The 6 other compositions remain in the same historical style which could all be part of a set list of the group, and we will not miss 'Hideaway Paradise' which opens the album, and which should make people happy if it is played in concert. 'Mirror Of Night' shows a more moderate side with a beautiful symphonic introduction filled with choirs and 'Tainted Hearts' which follows suit, continues in this melodic symphonic metal, the keyboards of 'Martijn Westerholt' coming to wrap the saturated guitar riffs. Follows 'The Cold' with its 'Nightwishienne' introduction which adds an epic composition and which stands out a little bit from the lot with its remarkable instrumental section in the second part of the title, then, we find again this epic symphonic side in 'Invictus' with the participations of the former bassist of 'Nightwish', 'Marko Hietala' and singer 'Paolo Ribaldini'. The album ends with 'Underland' which could be a clever mix of the ABBA metal from 'Amberian Dawn' for his latest addictive chorus and 'Xandria' for his radiant choirs (by the way, the next tour of 'Delain' will feature 'Xandria' as opening act). We can nevertheless regret the absence of an original ballad but we will console ourselves with the very beautiful refined interpretation of 'The Quest And The Curse' in which 'Diana Leah' shows that she has nothing to envy to 'Charlotte Wessells'.
In summary, symphonic metal bands are in a bad way right now, because after the redesign of 'Xandria', 'Delain' shows a completely renewed new line up but has nothing to envy to the old one because everything has been done to offer us an album that should undoubtedly be well received by all fans of the group but also more widely by all followers of an accessible symphonic metal with melodies that we appropriate from the first listen... | |
