Kells are a name that I have seen around before, normally due to involvement on bills such as Metal Female Voices and as support with the likes of Epica but until this their third album arrived I am not sure if I have ever heard them before. As the press release states there is a good chance if you live outside their home country of France that they will be a new star on your radar but they are already firmly established at home. The main reason that perhaps they have not travelled that well was quickly established on giving Anachromie a spin and that is due to the fact that the vocals are sung in French. Whereas this sort of thing may not hamper a gruff or rasping death or black metal band, one kind of wants to understand what vocalist Virginie Gonclaves is singing about as her style is on the whole very clean.
The expected comparisons are made on the blurb citing Amy, Angela and Cristina and as the music flows in with chunky riffs and bouncing drums it is evident that this has a very modern sound to it as well as a clear commerciality. For me the comparison to label mates Eths is obvious and indeed I read that their singer Candice was featured in the group’s 2010 single La Sphere. There is a very nu-metal bombast behind this and although the fairytale tinkle and clean vocals of opener ‘Bleu’ get you in the mood it is still a surprise when Virginie really goes for the feral yells and pretty much rips your head off on second track ‘Se Taire.’ Her clean voice is really quite gorgeous and sends shivers down the spine, there is a hell of a lot of power behind it and she pretty much belts things out at the right points of the chorus really making songs stick in. The more extreme elements of her vocals are not over emphasised making them all the more potent when unleashed and it makes a change that this band do not need to rely on a male beast for the parts; Virginie is quite capable of being this as well as the beauty!
There are 15 songs on the album and they show quite a lot of versatility. Melodies are very strong and numbers are quickly recognised after just a couple of plays. At times we get Middle Eastern melodic twists and at others heavily symphonic passages, the choruses generally excel and are really powerful making it all too obvious why many in France have been wowed by Kells. On the strength of Anachromie Kells certainly deserve more of an audience outside their home country and this kept me entertained over the just shy of an hour long running time. If you like modern sounding metal with a strong female vocalist this is well worth checking out.
http://kellsofficial.com
Pete Woods
MTUK HOME
