Venues : "Transience"

 

This German band occupies the middle-of-the-road metalcore/nu-metal space that is more commonplace in mainstream metal. This band balances out the more soaring pop vocals of Lela with a more metallic scowl. Her voice brings the radio-friendly hooks. Their writing is not harsh and focuses on grooves and providing space for the vocals to fall. With songs like the more power ballad like "Unspoken Words:" their beauty and the beast formula is at perhaps its most accessible. I am always for strong vocal melodies, so the only issue I have with what they are doing is that it just doesn't come across as being that heavy to me, and is a tad overproduced, but that is what comes with this sort of thing, 

"Bad Karma" takes things even further into pop sensibilities. None of their stuff really feels that dark to me which might also explain why it's not resonating with me. By the time we get to "Reflections,' the formula they use to write songs is so firmly entrenched the songs begin to sound the same. The use of the male growls is pretty predictable  When I watched their videos and found out it's not one of the guitarists just lending his growl, but another male vocalist, It left a worse taste in my mouth as I hate it when bands have two singers that are not playing instruments. If it's something like Kiss where everyone sings that is fine, but two dedicated vocalists both fronting a band do not sit well with me. 

Some of the breakdowns remind me more of Slipknot than modern metal core so that is where the lines get blurry. There is a little more bounce to "Oblivion" that also reminds you that Evanescence is also nu-metal. Just for girls. This is a really well-produced album., but so are most pop albums. They gain some steam and get more aggressive on "Cravings" at least until the chorus comes, but the wheel is not getting re-invented here. The album closes with an overly dramatic ballad that only fosters Evanescence comparisons.  I will give this album an 8, it's pretty middle-of-the-road sonically but a well-crafted vanilla latte for the ears. 

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