For a few years now, the Dutch of 'Delain' have become an flagship group of symphonic metal and tours have followed one another with in particular guest 'Marko Hietala' of 'Nightwish' (see my last review of Delain here and Marko's studio album here). The last album 'Moonbathers' already dated from 2016 (see here) and the fans were impatient for this release : so, as not to make you languish, 'Apocalypse & Chill' is for me still a total success of this group which has distilled us for over 10 years now a pleasant symphonic metal with a talent to transform each show into a real party. First of all, this last opus is well filled with 13 tracks for a duration of a little less than an hour and for the begenning, with 'One Second', we are directly in the bath with a made in 'Delain,' powerful and catchy, then 'We Had Everything', with its electronic sounds and a rhythm approaching industrial metal (moreover in the last album 'Art Kills' was close to this style) continues in this joyful atmosphere. Without transition, ‘Chemical Redemption’ gives a adding layer with beautiful vocal arrangements and ‘Burning Bridges’ returns to ‘Delain’ already heard but still as effective. With 'Vengeance', the style flirts with that of 'Within Temptation' with an epic symphonic atmosphere that can be found in 'Legions of the Lost' and then, 'To Live is to Die' alternates energetic passages and others quieter while keeping catchy melodic lines with very beautiful choirs. We are already at the 6th composition of the album without having had any real dead time out and we tell ourselves that each of the titles could be played in concert and the second part of the album is not to be outdone by starting with a enticing 'Let's Dance' that the group has already already tested with happiness in live, then, 'Creatures' wants to be heavier and powerful thanks to a marked mid-tempo but what emerges from this title is for me the magnificent air performance from 'Charlotte Wessels' in opposition to the power of the title. After so much energy, ‘Ghost House Heart’ accompanies us on a beautiful semi-acoustic ballad with a beautiful trio of vocals/piano/violin. I pass on 'Master of Destiny', which was already present on 'Hunter's Moon' and 'Legions of the Lost' already mentioned above and the album ends with a new potential hit 'The Greatest Escape' and an instrumental 'Combustion 'which gives pride of place to the guitarist 'Timo Somers' who shows us all his talent with as a bonus a remarkable 'Floydian' introduction
In summary, as you will have understood, the Dutch of 'Delain' are still releasing an album with no real dead time and demonstrate that they know how to renew themselves by bringing diversity in their compositions by borrowing from different styles of metal and, therefore, with 'Apocalypse & Chill', they should further increase their fans base and become from now an essential group of the metal scene... | |
