Delain
The Human Contradiction
April 2014
Napalm Records
http://www.delain.nl/
Delain continues to evolve their muse with the release of The Human Contradiction. The band’s fourth full length release is full of vocalist Charolette Wessels’ souring vocals, which couple brilliantly with the gothic metal of Delain’s music.
Wessels, trained in both jazz and classical singing, has found the perfect mesh between the two genres and created something that few vocalists can achieve. Wessels has stated that her style is “in between the classical and the jazz stuff, and if you look at classical music with high vocal lines, then you kind of get to gothic very soon!” The gothic undertones on The Human Contradiction, coupled with the pain and yearning in Wessels’ voice, give a sense of urgency in each of the album’s tracks.
While I hate thinking that each region of the world is better at performing any specific genre over another, the Europeans have mastered the gothic metal genre and I believe that Delain is in the lead. The Human Contradiction is ethereal and poetic. Each track paints a brilliant sonic landscape and combines as a whole to create a massive tapestry of woven sound.
