Artist: Gwyllion
Title: The Edge Of All I Know
Type: Album
Label: Black Bard Entertainment
I am a firm believer in giving artists the best chance possible by sending their album to the reviewer most likely to give a fair and unbiased review, though after attempts to relieve myself of this record failed, the task of reviewing this album was left to me. Now, I’ve really grown to despise the trend of bands being labelled ‘Female Fronted Metal.’ This is certainly not through any misogynistic notion that there is no place in metal for the “fairer” sex, but more because it is such a downright idle description. I mean, if you, dear reader, can show me a band labelled ‘Male Fronted Metal’ then I will happily eat my words, but in this day and age we are long past it being that novelty stage it may once have been at. Having a female singer is no longer the unique selling point, unless they have something more to offer than simply being a girl (I.E. being a girl with real talent is always a bonus). The more you have of something, the more a band must offer something outstanding to really make an impact.
Take a genre like death metal. For every Morbid Angel, you have a hundred downtuned guitars and guttural vocal quintets with albums that sound more or less identical. Similarly, for every Epica or Madder Mortem (who, might I add, bare no similarity other than simply both have female vocalists) you’ll find a hundred bands with bugger all to offer but the gimmick of having a girl at the mic, that will have only a handful of neophytes drooling and thinking ‘rare seeing a woman in a metal band, isn’t it.’ Sex sells, and too many bands and the people who book them for shows and sign them to labels, are aware of this and you’ll find a pretty young thing with an okay voice masks a multitude of musical deficiency; usually hiding a one size fits all kind of beat with indistinguishable riffs and a few keyboard sounds thrown in for good measure. In Gwyllion’s defence, this isn’t really the case here. What we have instead, is plenty going on in the rhythm department, but the unfortunate marring of these tracks by the rather painful, screechy vocals of Annelore Vantomme.
What is really frustrating though, is that it is clear this girl can really sing; listen to the beautiful soprano that she breaks into on ‘Rage’ and ‘Roots Of Reality’ and you will understand what I am on about. For the majority of this album, it seems that I am listening to a girl attempting to undo years of vocal training by assuming a much more down to earth style, which really doesn’t work. These vocals are monotonous, thin and so screechy I feel a headache coming on merely thinking about them. I would really hope to hear more of her classical side come out on future efforts, though if she really wants to stick with this kind of vocal she really has her work cut out. Musically this isn’t unpleasant; ‘Void’ is definitely a grower with its heavy, catchy riff that bounds in with a certain element of pomp, and the male vocals here are a nice touch. There’s quite a strong symphonic presence here that often has me thinking of Sonata Arctica, while Nightwish is another obvious point of reference. The neo-classical piano style on ‘Rage’ is a highlight. There are some pleasant melodies and nice structures throughout the album, and while it’s unobtrusive enough to stick on as background music, it’s unlikely to keep hold of your attention.
If you are one of those people who still thinks females in metal are a novelty, this will either put you off entirely, or else it will sound merely alright. To those who are fans of Nightwish, I can only warn that this will sound more like your poor mans dilute-to-taste, bottled and sold on the reduced racks of Netto version of said band. Either way, I can’t envision this will be high up on any self-respecting metalheads ‘To Buy’ lists.
http://www.gwyllion.com
http://www.myspace.com/gwyllionmetal
Luci Herbert
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