April Rain

Delain | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 30, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2009
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sensory Records
• ASIN: B002A4Q652
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,785 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #4 in Music > World Music > Europe > Continental Europe > Netherlands
  • #32 in Music > Alternative Rock > Goth & Industrial > Goth
  • #79 in Music > Hard Rock & Metal > Progressive Metal

Editorial Reviews

Featuring the dulcet vocals of Charlotte Wessles, ex-Within Temptation keyboardist Martijn Westerholt and a guest appearance from Nightwish's Marco Hielata (on Lucidity). --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Symphonic Metalcore, October 22, 2009

By 

Edith Hammond - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: April Rain (Audio CD)

Before I start this review, let me make one thing clear: I love this album. It is so much fun to listen to.

Now, the first I heard of this band was when I heard they were founded by the former keyboardist of Within Temptation. Then I heard this album had Marco Hietala doing some guest vocals on a couple songs. After hearing these things, I was greatly intrigued. After buying the album and listening to them for a good month or so now, I can pretty safely say that they're not really like either band. I'd more closely equate them to a darker version of Visions of Atlantis or Edenbridge, although they still have a unique enough sound to be distiguishable from all the other Symphonic Metal bands.

That's probably because they seem to place more emphasis on the "Metal" part of that label than most other bands of the genre. The vocals are your standard-fare alto female combined with various male vocal parts, both growled and sung. They are much heavier than most Symphonic Metal bands and are not shy with the breakdowns (hence the title of this review), and when combined with the epic choir/strings played on the keyboards, it all combines to create some really powerful music. The breakdown in "Go Away" especially lends itself to this point; I could listen to that one part over and over for a long time.

Which brings me to my first complaint with the band. It's more of my own personal preference, but I would love it if these songs were longer. I've been inundated with Nightwish and Epica, which makes me really used to an average of six or seven minutes per song. Delain only has one that's over five minutes, and it's the slowest one (not that that's a problem). Again, probably my own preference, but I think they'd do a lot better if they could lengthen some of their songs.

My main problem with the music, though, is that it seems to lack maturity or range. Delain seems content with bringing you the adrenaline rush more commonly associated with the heavier sub-genres of metal, without looking to evoke a wider range of emotions. Say what you will about Nightwish's Dark Passion Play, but you can't really deny that it can take you from tension and suspense, to anger, to sadness, and ultimately to triumph. Delain just doesn't do that. They almost perfectly mix heavier metal stylings with symphonic elements to create amazingly powerful music, but it lacks the depth of most Symphonic Metal.

That said though, this is still some really great music and is absolutely worth the purchase.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clean Vocally - Musical Contradiction, July 15, 2009

By 

Andrew Hilton (East Coast, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: April Rain (Audio CD)

So take the beautiful vocals of Karen Carpenter, along with the piano sounds from their albums and then add a symphonic/soundtrackish metal backdrop and you have Delain's new album. What a contrast!

The music is heavy in parts, peaceful in others and Charlotte's vocals are clean and pure as April Rain. She really sounds like Karen Carpenter (USA pop vocalist from the '70s, look it up) and she never breaks out of that sound. It's easy to listen to and very refreshing.

Since the band is Dutch there are a few pronounciation flaws, but otherwise her singing is beautiful and the music provides a good match and a good contrast. I could do without Marko's (from Nightwish) growly vocals on "Virtue and Vice", but IMHO the album is great all the way through outside of that part of that one track. One of my favorite tracks is the bonus track, "Come Closer". It doesn't match the weight of some of the other songs, but the production quality is a match and the feel fits the rest of the album.

This album is a bit of a "chill out" compared to some of the bombast of Within Temptation or the crunch of Nightwish, but it's worth a listen if you love those bands and you're in a lighter mood.

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Correction to Mark, July 11, 2009

By 

Paris in Winter "Ravens, Valkyries and Parall... (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: April Rain (Audio CD)

Sharon den Adel is not with nor has been with Nightwish, rather she is lead singer of Within Temptation. Delain seems to be an outgrowth from Within Temptation's former keyboard player, Martijn Westerholt. While this is a well laid out and executed cd with very good vocals from primarily Charolette Wessels; it is a step below Within Temptation in range, power, diversity and composition to me. That being said there is a lot to praise about the Symphonic Metal being produced over the last 20 years in the Netherlands. I am impressed by the amount of musician co-operation between bands in the Netherlands.

I agree with the reviewer of "Lucidity" (a different Delain cd) that if you are tired of female, mezzo-soprano lead orchestra metal bands then Delain is a refreshing vocal change. Personally I would purchase Delain only after completing my Within Temptation and The Gathering (those with Anneke van Giersbergen).