DELAIN – We Are The Others (2012)
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“We Are The Others” is the third album from Dutch female fronted symphonic metal (?) outfit DELAIN, a CD that faced a rather long road to be published.
Completed and scheduled for release over a year ago, they band found serious issues after Roadrunner was bought over by Warner Music Group, who didn’t want to release it.
Battling on, Roadrunner stood behind their artist and finally Delain can breathe a sigh of relief as their fight is finally over.
Delain were originally founded by Within Temptation keyboardist Martijn Westerholt and frontwoman Charlotte Wessels, and they certainly have an anthemic sound.
Tagged in their beginnings as a gothic influenced group, now those sounds are mostly gone, in fact, the ‘metal’ factor is pretty diluted as well, as this new recording is mostly Melodic Sympho, Epic, sometimes progressive and operatic, and why not, with some modern AOR touches.
If you’re into acts like Halestorm then Delain are definitely the right band for you, featuring excellent soaring and incredibly powerful vocals by Charlotte Wessels.
“We Are The Others” develops accessible yet dark atmospheres, with meaningful lyrics that really play on the heart strings as singer/songwriter Charlotte Wessels sings in the title track (and on other songs) about the tragic story of Sophie Lancaster, the British teenager who was murdered in 2007 because of her freaky appearance.
Talking about the the title track, this is one of the more radio friendly of the entire disc, with a commercial structure and some modern AOR hints in the way, let’s say, Issa or H.I.M. An anthem about feeling alone and out of place, which surely everyone can relate to at one point in their life or another.
The most striking track on this album is “Milk and Honey”, with a slow poppy intro and fast blaring beat following it, getting you in trance. The soulful vocals are similar to Lzzy Hale from Halestorm but more operatic.
“Where Is The Blood” features a guest appearance with Burton C. Bell from Fear Factory. The duo creates a wonderful dark piece which highlights these two talented vocalists subtly but with ease. Singing about a break-up, this track doesn’t sound soppy in the slightest. With the hefty growl of Burton, his deep and decadent voice adds a metal impact to the song.
“Generation Me” and “Babylon” continue onwards in their ‘Phantom of the Opera-esque’ way whilst “Are You Done With Me” keeps the hooky choral arrangements flowing and the well crafted song arrangements are continuous with “Get The Devil Out Of Me” and album closer “Not Enough”.
“We Are The Others” is a commercial and accessible sympho/pop/rock album from a band that used to be more heavy and gothic oriented. Now they’ve gone more ‘adult’ and that benefits them as a band in my opinion.
On some tracks the ferocity is still there, but this is an extremely melodic material full of synths and orchestrations, with a pristine production / mix enhancing Charlotte Wessels’ spectacular voice. She’s terrific, trust me.
Better than I expected, Delain’s “We Are The Others” will please a wide spectrum of rock listeners looking for modern sounds and a superb vocalist.
Recommended.
01 – Mother Machine
02 – Electricity
03 – We Are The Others
04 – Milk And Honey
05 – Hit Me With Your Best Shot
06 – I Want You
07 – Where Is The Blood (Feat. Burton C. Bell)
08 – Generation Me
09 – Babylon
10 – Are You Done With Me
11 – Get The Devil Out Of Me
12 – Not Enough
Charlotte Wessels (vocals)
Martijn Westerholt (keys, synths)
Timo Somers (guitar)
Otto Schimmelpenninck van der Oije (bass)
Sander Zoer (drums)
BUY IT !
www.amazon.co.uk/We-Are-The-Others/dp/B0085L16JK
