Delain

70,000 Tons of Metal 2013, Part Three

Day three of this year’s 70,000 Tons of Metal cruise started off at Grand Turk with fun in the sun and continued into the late hours, with live sets from Metal Church, Helloween, Nile, Immolation, Doro and many, many more

Live review by Adrien Begrand; Live photos by Marc Hansen, Michael Jagla, Ag Babin, and Adrien Begrand.

70,000 Tons of Metal 2013, Part One

After attending Barge to Hell in December, I had absolutely no idea that I’d be returning to Miami some five weeks later to the same port, the same ship, the same crew even, to cover the third annual 70,000 Tons of Metal. But as anyone will tell you, when you have a chance to go on the craziest cruise around, let alone one of the very best metal festivals in the world, you don’t pass it up.

Live review by Adrien Begrand; Live photos by Marc Hansen, Michael Jagla, and Ag Babin.

Delain – Lucidity

As for the bulk of the original album, it’s what you would expect from a former member of Within Temptation (Westerholt): soaring vocals, bombastic guitar solos, pounding drums, lush keyboard and symphonic string arrangements. All played with subtlety and an attention to contrast that it seems only those in power or progressive metal remember any more

Delain: April Rain

The vocals are perfect. They always match the music dead on. Unlike most female goth metal, Charlotte Wessels does not sound over dramatic. Her performance grabs the listener and does not let go until the album’s completion. However, this album does not strictly rely on vocals like most female-fronted goth metal acts; it also gives the listener a good dose of instrumental sections as well.

Delain: April Rain

This is huge sounding, well done goth metal in the vein of Within Temptation – which is no wonder as so may ex members occupy the band. I believe this dutch outfit has reached the top tier of this style with this release.