Dark Waters (Napalm Records), the seventh record by Dutch group Delain is met with quite a few lineup changes – a new vocalist and bassist in Diana Leah and Ludovico Cioffi, and the return of the long-term guitarist and drummer Ronald Landa and Sander Zoer. People may have come and gone but the symphonic quintet’s sound is still the same – operatic metal with liberal amounts of bombast and pomp. Continue reading
Igorrr is the brainchild of the French musical genius, Gautier Serre and he made it to destroy the limitations of music. Originally a solo project, Serre dug into a variety of contrasting genres to proclaim palatable pieces of art that shouldn’t work, but do. In 2017, he broke barriers when the project gained more members and they released Savage Sinusoid (Metal Blade Records). Now, this bizarre band is back with the full-length album, Spirituality and Distortion (Metal Blade Records) where Serre and the other players are embellishing on the already oddball invention that is Igorrr. Continue reading
Times have been rather tumultuous for French progressive metal stalwarts Adagio since the release of their last album Archangels In Black (Listenable) way back in 2009. A continuing series of vocalist setbacks saw numerous changes in that time, with the latest seeing Mats Levén single year duration come to an end with him being succeeded by Kelly Carpenter. Jelly Cardarelli and Mayline Gautie have also joined as drummer and violinist respectfully. A mammoth wait for an album was also heightened by a crowdfunding campaign, and thus, the promise of big things to come. Now finally the follow-up arrives, revealing what is their most ambitious work to date, which sadly is not entirely a saving grace. Continue reading