DELAIN – Dance With The Devil (2024)
The always captivating Dutch combo DELAIN are set to break new ground with their upcoming EP, ”Dance with the Devil”, set to be released on November 8, 2024. Following the success of their latest full-length opus, Dark Waters (2023) – which debuted at #9 on both the US Hard Music Albums chart and the Official German Album Charts – this EP promises to showcase the best of DELAIN’s discography while striding ahead into a future that promises to explore new, more synth-driven soundscapes than ever before.
DELAIN introduces a new sound here indeed, with lots of electronics and synths in its title track, “Dance with the Devil”. Other new song, ”The Reaping” is a heavy midtempo rocker with a groove that’s familiar but effective. It has the type of verse where the guitar fades, allowing the singer to say a line, then comes roaring back with the melody line.
It’s curious why they name “Dance With The Devil” as an ‘EP’, because it packs 15 tracks! Next are a re-recording / new version, live tracks, alternate versions and more.
Re-recordings are always going to be divisive. You will have older fans who have lived with songs for many years and newer fans who do not have that history or potential bias. With this new recording of ‘Sleepwalkers Dream‘, we decided to play both songs back-to-back several times to get a feel for each in an attempt to compare/contrast and remain unbiased.
Both versions sound great. The re-recording technically has a better production sonically, but we prefer the reverb effects of the original. Diana Leah sounds stupendous in the new version, but the way Charlotte Wessels carries her choral note from lower to higher is effortless and impressive. Diana has to break up the parts in the chorus between the words and the elevated scream.
The other track previously released is not a re-recording, but a re-working. One of the best tracks off the last album, ‘Underland‘, has been reworked with a slightly different ending; “Underland (Alternate Ending Version)”. The ending allows Diana to complete all her lines in the outro without a fade out. The song is also mixed to the sound of the new tracks, so it is a little richer sounding with the highs a tad lower in the mix.
Now it’s onto the live tracks. The band sounds in fine form here and the crowd response is well represented. The crowd is incorporated in either a background choral response, with chants and hand clapping, and that happens in nearly every song in some sort of way. It adds a unique aspect that cannot be replicated in a studio version and makes the material that much more special.
For fans of the band, this is a real treat. You get a mix of things new and old, and it was great to compare the old and new versions. It’s the type of releases that has so much to offer it makes you want to buy a physical copy, with the price being justified for some great material.
Highly Recommended
01 – Dance With The Devil
02 – The Reaping
03 – Sleepwalkers Dream (2024 Version)
04 – The Cold (Live)
05 – Burning Bridges (Live)
06 – The Quest And The Curse (Live)
07 – April Rain (Live)
08 – Invidia (Live)
09 – Queen Of Shadow (Live Featuring Paolo Ribaldini)
10 – Your Body Is A Battleground (Live Featuring Paolo Ribaldini)
11 – Moth To A Flame (Live)
12 – Control The Storm (Live Featuring Paolo Ribaldini)
13 – Dance With The Devil (Instrumental)
14 – The Reaping (Instrumental)
15 – Underland (Alternate Ending Version)
Keys: David Martien Westerholt
Vocals: Diana Leah
Guitars: Ronald Landa
Bass: Ludovico Cioffi
Drums: Sander Zoer
Pre order:
napalmrecordsamerica.com/delain-dance-with-the-devil-digipak.html
