Symphonic metal with prominent pianos and a glamorous female singer -- that would be an unwieldy name for a genre but after enough years of bands that clearly wore their copies of early
Gathering CDs into the ground, still appropriate. Thus the sophomore effort by
Delain, which has all the flair one would expect for a band that might be the new
Evanescence or the new
Birthday Massacre or its own self. Or something else again, but the elements on
April Rain won't surprise many -- Charlotte Wessels' sweet, soaring vocals; the chunky but polished rampage of the band; the half-AOR, half-snarled thrash; plus, of course, orchestrations galore, as "Stay Forever" delivers from the start. It's an album to enjoy for its ability for the obvious -- for newcomers it might be less so, of course, so it's a chance to enjoy the big pomp and Euro-metal guitars in their own right. Everything does seem like it should be soundtracking the latest Underworld movie, no bad thing necessarily. ~ Ned Raggett