'Witheabbey' is a new symphonic metal band which was created in 2020 at the start of the covid period by Irish guitarist 'Steve Moore' ('Fireland') and who was joined by Dutch singer 'Tamara Bouwhuis', the rest of the line up now being made up of bassist 'Graham McNulty' and drummer 'Badger Duncan'. They have already self-produced two albums, 'Volume 1' in 2020 and 'Volume 2' in 2022 and I discovered them with their latest album 'Words That Form the Key' released at the end of February 2024. They have now signed with the German label 'Metalapolis Record' which will certainly allow them to have greater notoriety. Musically, they offer us symphonic metal accessible at first listen which takes us back to the beginning of this style and on certain tracks, I have the impression of finding the first albums 'Enter' and 'Mother Earth' of 'Within Temptation'.
And this feeling comes to fruition with the first composition 'Reality' in which 'Tamara Bouwhuis' shows all her vocal talent, high-pitched, title which gives us a first catchy melody (see the video above). Follows 'Dragonfire' which continues in this catchy style, the guitar riffs supporting this well-paced title, then, 'Hold Fast' accelerates the pace and takes us into energetic symphonic metal with a remarkable guitar solo from 'Steve Moore'. 'Just Hold Me' is then a cover of the Norwegian singer 'Maria Mena' which is slightly metallic without transforming this very beautiful title too much (see the video here), then, 'You Should Be Running' shows a very catchy face with a refrain to be repeated in chorus with 'Tamara Bouwhuis'. The ballad break arrives with the short 'All in the Past' which begins acoustically, and which shows that the Dutch also knows how to move us in much calmer atmospheres, then, 'Ireland's Final Witch' starts again with a new melodic hit which could also have been the subject of a single, the guitar riffs beautifully accompanying this catchy title. We find this radiant symphonic metal with 'Celtic Curse' and the album ends in serenity with the beautiful semi-acoustic power ballad 'Think of Me Sometimes' which offers us a final melody on which we let ourselves be lulled by the singing of 'Tamara Bouwhuis'.
In summary, without revolutionizing the genre, 'Whiteabbey' gives us a new quality album showing that they have all the talent to rise among the tenors of the genre and 'Words That Form the Key' is recommended for to all fans of symphonic metal who loved this style in the early 2000s with 'Within Temptation', 'Delain', 'Xandria' and others... | |
