Não sou muito esquisito e dentro do metal deambulo um pouco por todos os géneros. Tenho preferências, como é óbvio, e uma delas são vozes femininas que se destaquem das demais. O nome à frente desta banda não será estranho a ninguém: Floor Jansen, ex-After Forever. Estranho é que mesmo conhecendo o poder daqueles pulmões, ainda me consiga surpreender com o que de lá sai.
Pois bem, este será, eventualmente (e isto vai depender sempre dos gostos pessoais), o maior espectáculo vocal feminino que ouvi nos últimos anos, superando mesmo o de uma das minhas pérolas de eleição que são os vocais da senhora Helena Haaparanta de Crimfall. A Floor vai desde o canto melódico ao lírico, passando pelo poder que se lhe reconhece e sempre com uma finesse que deve irritar outras vocalistas do género. Para quem acha que as melhores vocalistas de metal são as que berram como homens, oiçam o álbum.
Ah, e depois há o instrumental. Depois de gabar a voz podia parecer que o álbum era só Floor, mas não. Instrumentalmente está muito bem composto e nota-se claramente que não foi composto apenas para que a Floor pudesse cantar e por si só levar isto para a frente.
No entanto, sendo o gothic metal um género que mete um bocadinho de nojo à generalidade dos metaleiros, provavelmente irá passar ao lado.
http://www.facebook.com/ReVamp
http://www.revampmusic.com/
http://www.myspace.com/revamp
Tracklist:
01. The Anatomy of a Nervous Breakdown: On the Sideline
02. The Anatomy of a Nervous Breakdown: The Limbic System
03. Wild Card
04. Precibus
05. Nothing
06. The Anatomy of a Nervous Breakdown: Neurasthenia
07. Distorted Lullabies
08. Amendatory
09. I Can Become
10. Misery's No Crime
11. Wolf and Dog
“Wild Card” may only be a sophomore album, but the members involved are strong veterans of the metal scene, with the band fronted by Floor Jansen, who has been involved with such acts as Mayan, After Forever, and Nightwish. Nearly every facet of this release is of the highest quality, from songwriting to vocal delivery, and the album as a whole marries aggression to melody in a way that many bands just can’t pull off at this level.
As Jansen’s project following the demise of After Forever, it should go without saying that the vocals are focused on female clean singing, but the range here is immense. There’s over-the-top operatic wailing, full-bodied and deep singing, and even a handful of harsh growls. “Wild Card” definitely isn’t “the Floor show” though, as the instrumentation is on par and given an equal focus throughout the disc.
These tracks aren’t light on either the metal elements or the symphonic ones, so no one will be left wishing the album went more strongly in one direction or the other. There’s a wide range of sounds present, from fast-paced guitars that are equal to any melodic death metal excursion to more gothic and opera-style sounds. Those gothic twists will bring to mind Tristania, although the music as a whole is more symphonic than dark and brooding.
A variety of guest spots further round out the disc from such names as Devin Townsend and Mark Jansen of Mayan. Fans of that band in particular should take note, as there’s a good deal of bleed through between the two outfits, with the track “Misery’s No Crime” in particular sounding like it could have come off Mayan’s “Quarterpast” debut. In addition to those harsher and more extreme aspects, “Wild Card” will have a huge appeal for fans of female-fronted projects like Nightwish or Within Temptation, and the strong balance between extreme and melodic is on par with Sirenia’s latest album “Perils of the Deep Blue.”
Highs: Perfect balance between extreme metal and melodic clean singing.
Lows: Although all the elements are presented with the highest quality, there's nothing particularly new or groundbreaking going on.
Bottom line: Fans of female-fronted bands who don't want to miss out on the heaviness need to hear this album.
http://www.metalunderground.com/reviews ... seid=11022
