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handsofdarkness · 2 years

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The story behind the song: Within Temptation’s Angels

Within Temptation’s breakthrough hit Angels was shaped by label trouble, departing members… and a high-profile political assassination

By the time Within Temptation released The Silent Force in 2004, they were shaping up as one of metal’s great new hopes. The Dutch band’s first two albums, 1997’s doomy, gothic-leaning Enter and 2000’s fantastical Mother Earth, had helped put symphonic metal on the map, but it was their third album that really grabbed people’s attention.

The Silent Force was a weightier, darker collection than its predecessors. Landing just a few months after Once, Nightwish’s genre-defining statement, that year saw the two bands stepping forward as the figureheads for a rising scene that was becoming a global commercial force.

The Silent Force’s first two singles, Stand My Ground and Memories, had been big hits across mainland Europe, but when the band saw how fervently the crowd at live shows reacted to Angels, they decided to release it as the album’s third single. Elegantly bridging the ornate gloom of the band’s early sound, the Celtic-infused sparkle of Mother Earth’s burgeoning symphonic drama, and the arena-filling bombast that would follow, the song would play a significant role in Within Temptation’s ascendancy. Today it stands as one of their most enduring anthems.

“Everyone has their own interpretation of the lyrics,” says vocalist Sharon den Adel of Angels. “It holds such a meaning for so many people in many ways. It’s a song that people love.”

The period leading up to The Silent Force was defined by turmoil and change. Following the departure of keyboardist Martijn Westerholt, who’d left in 2001, Within Temptation were getting to grips with a new line-up, which included guitarist Ruud Jolie and Martijn Spierenburg on keyboards. They had also moved labels, leaving the small Dutch independent DSFA Records and signing with German label GUN Records, with the hope that the latter could promote them across Europe on a grander scale.

That upheaval wasn’t confined to the band. The Netherlands itself had been in turmoil since the 2002 assassination of right-wing politician Pim Fortuyn, who’d been shot and killed by a political activist who disagreed with his anti-Muslim views. The incident had stunned the nation at the time, and its aftershocks were still being felt when Within Temptation entered the studio in summer 2004 to record the album.

“There was a lot of commotion in our country at that moment,” recalls Sharon. “We’ve always been very engaged with politics, although you don’t hear it much in our music. We did not agree with [Fortuyn], and we were worried about the future… that shines through on this album.”

The band shut themselves away from the world during the eight-week recording session, holing up in a studio on the industrial outskirts of Rotterdam. Every day they would arrive at 9am and not leave until 11pm. “Everything in the studio was closed; there was only a canteen with a little bit of light coming in,” remembers Sharon. “The fact we were in a very dark studio made us feel very gloomy.”

The album marked the first time the band had worked with producer Daniel Gibson, who has produced each of the band’s albums ever since. “He taught us not to sit inside all day,” laughs Sharon. “He’s like, ‘Guys, we have to go for lunch and see some daylight!’”

The success of Mother Earth meant that the band could do things differently this time around, pushing their symphonic inclinations to the forefront. Within Temptation had flirted with symphonic elements before: they’d used computerised orchestral sounds on both Mother Earth and Enter, and they’d worked with a small choir on the former, too. However, GUN Records were so impressed by the band’s growth that they splashed the cash, and forked out for a real Russian orchestra to play on the new material.

“The palette of colours we had to play with became bigger,” remembers Sharon. “We’ve always loved heavy music, but we also loved the soundtracks of epic movies like Braveheart and Gladiator. It had always been our intention to have this sound within our music – this was the first time we had the budget to do it!”

Of course, making a record in the mid-00s with an orchestra based on the other side of a continent was not without challenges. “We were close to Rotterdam, and they were in Moscow,” Sharon says. “Files were sent online but this was back in the day, and it took ages and the computer would crash. Then we said, ‘We want to change this’, and had to go back with a load of files again.”

Angels encapsulated their growing ambition perfectly. Starting with a fragile falsetto from Sharon, it built into an emotional, symphonic anthem, laced with bittersweet venom: ‘You took my heart, deceived me right from the start / You showed me dreams, I wished they would turn into real / You broke a promise, and made me realise, it was all just a lie.’

Fans have spent years dissecting its lyrics of betrayal, but Sharon reveals the band wrote the track to vent about frustrations with their original label, DSFA Records, that had been bubbling to the surface.

“Although we mostly work with metaphors in our music, there was a lot of things that were influenced by politics and our personal lives on that album,” she explains. “Angels is about heroes never coming with a cape and bad guys never coming with the striped shirt, like they’re supposed to be in prison. You have people that you trust and you finally find out they’re not that trustworthy.”

The band’s success, she says, had been a welcome surprise, but it had left them vulnerable. “We were never meant to be a professional band,” she explains. “The thing about that is then you don’t take contracts so seriously. You say, ‘OK, I’ll sign whatever as long as I can make an album!’ You never expect it to become a success, then things start to change and it’s like, ‘Oh my God, what have I done?’ I didn’t have a clue what I was doing. Even though we had lawyers and stuff involved, they were not specialised in music, so it was our own fault in a way.”

The video for Angels represented a new look for the band. Shot in a traditional Spanish mansion in Malaga, it was a visual step out from the shadows. “It was an excuse to do a warm video!” laughs Sharon. “Every time we made a video before, we were standing in the cold, in the rain! For Stand My Ground, we were on the top of a building in Berlin in the middle of the night. We were like, ‘Angels is going to be in the sunshine!’”

The video was also Sharon’s first time on a motorcycle, zipping down dusty roads clinging onto drummer Stephen van Haestregt for dear life. “He was always on motorbikes,” says Sharon. “He was used to it and was like, ‘I’m always in the back of the video clips and now I’m in front. I get to be a cool guy!’”

However, the darkness that had hung over the sessions for The Silent Force carried over into the concept for the video. Together with director Oliver Sommer, the band wrote the treatment for the shoot, which featured Sharon as a fallen angel, kidnapped by a demonic priest-cum-serial killer, played by an actor who had appeared as an extra in Sergio Leone’s Spaghetti Western classic, The Good, The Bad And The Ugly. With spirits rising from the grave and Sharon finally destroying her nemesis while sporting a pair of white angel wings, it’s a gothic-western fantasy that perfectly encapsulates the poignant beauty of the song.

Released in November 2004, The Silent Force immediately pushed Within Temptation to new heights, going gold only one week after its release in the Netherlands, Belgium and Finland. They had played their first UK show, a sold-out gig at London’s Scala, that September, but the real payoff would come a year after the album’s release, as the band headlined Bloodstock Festival for the first time (they would triumphantly return to headline again 10 years later).

“You could feel something was changing through interviews, and we were playing at later times at festivals,” Sharon remembers. Not that there was a handbook for their burgeoning success. “There was no one else to guide us outside of the Netherlands. We had to do things on our own and pioneer a bit. There weren’t many other bands we could ask, ‘How do you do that? What’s your experience?’ For us it was new.”

Still, the band who had begun as a casual hobby had become their homeland’s prime musical export. And The Silent Force, and Angels in particular, served notice of their impending popularity outside of the Netherlands, helping transform them into one of symphonic metal’s biggest success stories.

“With The Silent Force, people really knew who we were,” says Sharon. “We stepped up a level with everything. It was the moment we became who we are today.”

#within temptation #The Silent Force #Angels

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offbeatmusicuk · 21 days

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Albums Of 2023: 25-1

Part one of this list (numbers 50-26) is here:

The countdown continues:

25.

DJ Rap "Dark Glitter"

Exclusively released as an NFT, not many people got to hear Rap's first full length of new material since 2010. And while I rather hate the release method, I wasn't going to miss out on a new album from Charissa Saverio. And it's a genre jumping affair. Yes, there's plenty of drum & bass as expected, but also some downtempo breaks, house, dubstep, even pop. With some orchestral flourishes, rock riffs, jazzy elements, skittery beats. All good stuff.

24.

Bored Lord "Name It"

Oakland's Bored Lord has dived into the late 80's and early 90s dance scenes for a load of sounds of rave - breaks, drum & bass, house and more - to create an album which is both fresh and incredibly retro.

23.

Therapy? "Hard Cold Fire"

Northern Irish rock legends Therapy? release their 14th full length, and it's arguably their strongest collection in nearly two decades. It doesn't re-invent the wheel, but does what they do, and does it well.

22.

Saint Agnes "BLOODSUCKERS"

The bluesy rock of their debut is replaced by fury, energy and riffs more akin to Rage Aganst The Machine than to The White Stripes. The title track kicks of proceedings, and what a way to begin. One of the tunes of the year, and it is nearly impossible to sit still for the three and a half minutes it pummels your ear drums. It certainly getting the adrenaline pumping. Nothing that follows quite matches its awesomeness, but every track is very worthwhile.

21.

Orbital "Optical Delusion"

Dance legends Orbital bring us their 10th album. Some new classics nestle among the tracklist, among some new sounds for them, and some quirky oddities, but it's all undeniably the work of the Hartnoll brothers.

20.

Skindred "Smile"

The Welsh raggae metal titans prove with their 8th album that you can play the long game in this industry and still keep growing. This was very nearly their first UK number 1 album, and lost out at the last only on streams (it was the biggest selling album of the week), and it was paired with the announcement of their biggest ever headline show at Wembley Arena. Granted 'single' "L.O.V.E (Smile Please)" almost sounds like an attempt to break through to the mainstream, with it's crazy, catchy, pop reggae vibes and uplifting chorus. And it seems to have worked. But older fans need not worry, for there are plenty of crunchy guitars and pounding drums to create much moshpit madness, along with plenty of powerful and melodic vocal turns from Benji Webbe.

19.

Emma Hewitt "Ghost Of The Light"

While probably best known for lending her incredible, angelic vocals to many a trance floor filler, her solo stuff is more dark, electronic pop. Sophisticated, atmospheric and catchy, beautiful hooks aplenty. This album has more 80s synthpop influences than her 2012 debut, but still maintains the ethereal magic.

18.

Delain "Dark Waters"

I'll be honest, when all of the members of Delain, except founder Martijn Westerholt, left the band at the same time, something didn't feel right and I instinctively sided with Charlotte Wessels and co. Charlotte being the vocalist on every one of their previous albums, and, to me, as vital to the band as Martijn (even though there has been a bit of a revolving door of other members). I wasn't even sure I wanted the newly built version of Delain to succeed. But naturally I was curious. And of course, they've produced a brilliant album. Excellently delivered symphonic metal from start to finish, with some stunning melodies. If you liked them before, you'll like them now.

17.

Coach Party "Killjoy"

Brilliant debut album from the Isle Of Wight indie rockers. The way they skip between ethereal melodic numbers and spiky, punky rockers is quite reminiscent of Wolf Alice, but there are some chirpier and moodier efforts on here too. Fab stuff.

16.

Duncan Forbes "Return Of The Strobelight Kid"

One half of 90s progressive house pioneers Spooky, Duncan Forbes delivers his debut solo album. The beats range from 2-Step, to house, to techno, to old school breakbeats, over absorbing widescreen soundscapes.

15.

Superlove "follow:noise"

Second album from this noise-pop trio. Jaunty, upbeat, catchy rock songs, with slightly off-kilter, unexpected song construction, some electronic moments, and plenty of absolutely huge, chunky riffs.

14.

Turtle "Landmass"

An ode to the Scottish countryside with which Turtle surrounds himself, full of glorious beatless ambience, to mellow breakbeat, pumping four to the floor, haunting samples and string sections that will bring you to tears. A beautiful album to chill out to and get lost in. One of the rare occasions I recommend the digital version of an album, as the vinyl oddly omits some of the best tracks.

13.

Nicholson "Carpe Diem"

Hard trance legend Carl Nicholson, unleashes what is apparently his final trance artist album, and it's a fabulous journey through the genre. Uplifting, euphoric, hard, and acid led, with some huge goosebump moments.

12.

Public Service Broadcasting "This New Noise"

Initially recorded live at the Royal Albert Hall with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Jules Buckley for the 2022 BBC Proms, and newly remixed for the album release (oddly there is a version with crowd noise and a version without, the latter feeling like a studio album), it's an enthralling, interesting ode to radio for the centenary of the BBC. And while PSB's instrumentation and choice of samples is excellent, it is the orchestra that lifts this to the epic heights it reaches.

11.

RAM "Wanderlust"

There is a run of 5 tracks in the middle of this album, that is absolute peak, modern, euphoric trance. Huge leads, stunning vocal melodies and performances, wonderful atmospheres and pounding beats. The other half of the album isn't bad at all, either. I recommend searching out the mixed version of the album (sadly this isn't the version on the CD). The unmixed version is all edits and the tracks don't get to breathe properly. Sometimes there isn't a huge difference in the track length, but it makes all the difference in the album flow. But as an example, the magnificent "Echoes" with Roxanne Emery is over twice as long.

10.

Black Honey "A Fistful Of Peaches"

The first and second Black Honey albums just missed out on the Offbeat Top 10's of their years (11 & 12 respectively in 2018 & 2021), and their third here has just, very deservedly, made it in. Their songcraft keeps getting stronger, and they keep subtly mixing up their styles. There are some true indie-rock classics here.

Trance Wax "Open Up The Night"

The second album from Belfast-based Trance Wax (known as Gary to his mum) is another fantastic affair for lovers of the genre. The tracks here cover much of the varied spectrum of trance, plus a bit of breaks, drum & bass and house thrown in for good measure. Classics aplenty.

Hot Milk "A Call To The Void"

Are Hot Milk a rock band with a penchant for a catchy pop hook, or a pop band with a knack for a chunky guitar riff. I'd say yes to both. Either way, the tracks here both provide singalong earworms, and plenty of moshpit fuel, and along the way some nifty electronic production, and even some goosebump inducing orchestration.

Ad Infinitum "Chapter III - Downfall"

The Swiss symphonic metal quartet fronted by the magnificent Melissa Bonny were honing their craft over their first 2 rather good albums, but with this, their third, they have hit their stride. It is fantastic. The melodies, riffs and hooks are all on point. All killer, no filler.

DMA's "How Many Dreams?"

Britpop influenced indie (jangly sing along anthems, string laden slow cuts), with a healthy dose of electronic atmospheres and pumping beats, combined with huge choruses, evokes a charming, warm euphoria.

anamē "Beautiful World"

A gorgeous album of progressive house soundscapes, with some breakbeat wonders and a few trance influences in there too. Add to that some incredible guest vocals from Lydmor, Bien and more, and you have a beautiful album to float away with.

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Within Temptation "Bleed Out"

After a couple of slightly disappointing albums (when compared to their earlier work), Within Temptation make a staggering return to form on their 8th long player. Their heaviest album since their debut, including some incredible djent style riffs (no gentle ballads on this one), but there is no shortage of their trademark epicness, symphonic stylings and huge choruses. Not to mention the incredible voice of Sharon den Adel front and centre as always. Up there with the best they've ever done.

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Enter Shikari "A Kiss For The Whole World"

An incredible run of consistantly brilliant albums (to me their debut was good, interesting and showed a lot of potential, every one since has been brilliant), and with their 7th, Shikari have possibly produced their most accessible one to date (evidenced by it being their first UK number 1?). But that doesn't mean it's not 100% an Enter Shikari album, with it's constant flow, yet genre hopping all over the place. One of the most exciting, original and special bands in the world right now.

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Poppy "Zig"

It is almost impossible to classify Poppy as an artist, such is the variety of styles she has released in her decade long career. You can mostly classify each project though, and she has released albums and EPs of bubblegum pop, electro pop, instrumental ambient, metal, industrial, punk, 90's style alternative rock & grunge, but now with "Zig" she has delivered her masterpiece (so far). It is mostly dark electronic music but with plenty of pop leanings and catchy hooks, elements of industrial, trip-hop, drum & bass, rock & metal. Yes, the songwriting is excellent, interesting and full of ear worms. Yes, Poppy's vocals are on point, both light and seductive in turns. But the crucial part of the album for me is the phenominal production by Ali Payami. So many incredible noises and sounds that engulf, captivate and excite.

I love lots of new music, but it's quite rare that an album and artist causes the excitement and interest that lots of music did when I was a teen. This year, there were two. And yes, Poppy was very much considered for the number 1 spot. She possibly would have been in many other years. But.....

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Conquer Divide "Slow Burn"

The fact that there is too much screaming for my taste, or a couple of brief uses of that omnipotent 2010's pop vocal effect that I'd always question the use of, has not stopped this otherwise gargantuan album rising to the top of the pile and eclipsing the majority of the competition. Describing it as a mix of hard rock and metalcore, just doesn't do it justice to quite how epic it sounds. It soars! Magnificent guitar work from Izzy Johnson and primary songwriter Kristen Sturgis, and rhythmic brilliance from Janel Duarte on bass and Sam Landa on drums, and some excellent production and elctronic touches, all backing for Janel's afforementioned screams, and the incredible singing and clean vocals from Kia Castillo. What a voice. What melodies she delivers, what goosebumps occur.

Aside from my niggly complaints at the start, I have only one other negative to say towards this album, and it's nothing to do with what is present, rather what is missing. Comback singles "Chemicals" and "Messy" were utterly fantastic tracks that definitely deserved to be on this album, they were the ones that got me excited for this album (my thoughts on their previous album were positive, but nowhere near this positive) and their presence would have made this album even better!

In the 8 years between their self titled debut album and this, their 2nd, Conquer Divide have morphed from a solid and enjoyable metalcore band, to one of the most impressive and exciting bands on the planet. With the potential to be even greater! In the meantime I sit wondering how this record, with it's huge "why are they not hits?" anthems "The INVISIBLE", "Paralyzed" & "N E W H E A V E N", hasn't already got them headlining arenas across the globe.

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Playlists:

Spotify 50-1 (though missing number 25 as DJ Rap's album is not on Spotify)

YouTube 50-1 (though number 25 is only a short clip as DJ Rap's Dark Glitter is not on YouTube). These are different tracks to the Spotify one.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSWMYBJKcPo0pslrvNoeTMS-kTaAkhEXD

#Spotify #Youtube

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black-arcana · 1 year

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#sharon den adel #ruud jolie #stefan helleblad #jeroen van veen #martijn westerholt #mike coolen #within temptation #worlds collide tour

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x--daughters-of-darkness--x · 10 months

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Ex-NIGHTWISH Member MARKO HIETALA Joins DELAIN On Stage In Switzerland

Former NIGHTWISH vocalist/bassist Marko "Marco" Hietala joined DELAIN on stage during an open-air concert this past Saturday (July 8) at Z7 Summer Nights in Pratteln, Switzerland to perform the latter band's song "Your Body Is A Battleground". Fan-filmed video of his appearance can be seen below.

Back in October 2017, DELAIN and Hietala joined forces for the "Danse Macabre" tour. The trek saw DELAIN share the stage with their longtime friend and collaborator who contributed to most of DELAIN's records with guest appearances.

In a recent interview with FaceCulture, DELAIN founder, songwriter and keyboardist Martijn Westerholt spoke about the differences in the singing approach of the band's new frontwoman Diana Leah and that of her predecessor, Charlotte Wessels. He said: "Well, first of all, [Diana's] voice. I like her character. [She has] so much control, so much control… It's also a very friendly voice. And [when I first heard her singing], I could imagine that on DELAIN music. And then I got back the material later, and I was actually astonished and surprised how much it fitted. [Someone said] she has a very similar voice to Charlotte, and partially I totally agree with that; there are some characteristics that are similar. But I also think that people didn't… We have released three singles [with Diana so far], and [people] have not heard her complete capacity in singing. She's very good with soft versus power, [the] contrast [between the two]."

Elaborating on what sets the two vocalists apart, Martijn said: "Charlotte is more rough, which gives Charlotte a lot of character. It's a more rough voice, and that's not a negative thing; no, on the contrary, that gives it a certain quality and character. Diana is more refined. And that makes it different. So I'm totally not saying that, 'Oh, this one is better' or 'That one is better' — no — but it is different. And, of course, indeed, there are also similarities."

DELAIN's first album with Leah, "Dark Waters", arrived on February 10 via Napalm Records.

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#diana leah #delain #dod collaborations #marko hietala #2023 news #Youtube

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metalindex-hu · 3 months

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Nehéz örökségből kell talpra állni: Delain, Illumishade – Barba Negra, 2024. 01. 27.

Nehéz örökségből kell talpra állni: Delain, Illumishade – Barba Negra, 2024. 01. 27. - https://metalindex.hu/2024/02/03/nehez-oroksegbol-kell-talpra-allni-delain-illumishade-barba-negra-2024-01-27/ -

Hosszú út vár a Delain zenekarra, hogy visszatérjenek oda, ahol pár éve jártak, és ez az út nem lesz egyszerű. Hogy mennyire nem, annak első lépéseit néztük meg ezen a szombat estén, de kezdésként a svájci Illumishade mutatkozott be.

Ha Svájc kerül szóba rockzene terén, akkor más zenekarok mellett az Eluveitie neve is felmerül, a banda folk metal vonalon igen erős bástyája az európai szcénának. A csapat két tagja egy saját projektet hozott létre az anyabanda mellett, az Illumishade 2019-ben alakult és ezen koncertig egy albumuk jelent meg.

A zenei világ igen messze van attól, amit eddig Fabienne Erni énekesnő és Jonas Wolf gitáros játszott a másik felállásban, és kissé tőlem is távol van, bár azt el kell ismerni, hogy Fabienne hangja zseniális. Iszonyat nagy dolgok jöttek ki a torkán, de nekem picit jobban tetszett, amikor nem énekelte le a csillagokat is az égről.

Ez a fajta progresszív muzsika nem egyszerű, nem könnyen befogadható, nem üt egyből. Bonyolult, összetett, eklektikus, egy dalban van legalább 3-4 olyan váltás, ami nem könnyíti meg az élvezetét. Voltak részek, amikor éppen beindult a csapat, bólogatni is elkezdtem, majd tempóváltás, és máris olyan rész jött, amit figyelmesen kellett hallgatni, nem headbangelés közben.

Az utolsó előttiként érkező Tales Of Time kezdése volt nagyon erős, de ott is jött aztán az összetett téma. Ennek ellenére ez volt az egyik emlékezetes pontjuk számomra.

Csak pillanatokra, percekre tudtam igazán élvezni a koncertet, pedig Fabienne hangja és színpadi jelenléte nagyon megnyerő volt. Szegény a hálós ruhájával megszenvedett, szinte folyamatosan beleakadt valamelyik rész a színpad elejére kitett dobogókba.

Azt kicsit sajnáltam, hogy amikor Jonas mellett a basszusgitáros Yannick Urbanczik és a billentyűs hölgy, Mirjam Skal is kisegítette Fabienne-t a refrénekben, akkor kevés hallatszott belőlük, igazán vastag lehetett volna a vokál.

Azért az énekesnőn látszott a sokévnyi rutin, nagyon otthonosan mozgott a színpadon, a közönséggel is jó kapcsolatot teremtett, tudta, mitől döglik a légy. A Rise nótában egy külön kitett billentyűzethez ült és szinte egyedül adta elő a szerzeményt, itt is előjött, hogy mennyire jól tud bánni a hangjával.

Egy szó, mint száz, én azt éreztem, hogy a hangja sokkal jobban tetszik, mint maga a zene. A közönség ellenben hálás volt a dalok végén. Ami még talán necces húzás volt, hogy a majd februárban megjelenő, így a nép számára nagyrészt ismeretlen lemezről való darabok tették ki a műsor közel felét.

A progresszív zenét kedvelők tegyenek egy próbát a zenekarral, mert Fabienne hangja zseniálisan jó, és egy tündéri személyiség, de az alápakolt muzsika nem az én világom. Én ennél „egyszerűbb” rocker vagyok…

Elegy / Enemy / Here We Are / Crystal Silence / Cloudreader / Rise / Muse Of Unknown Forces / Tales Of Time / World’s End

Vissza a startvonalra! Kb. ilyennek érzem jelenleg a holland Delain helyzetét, ahonnan nagyon nehéz lesz újra elérni azt a szintet, amit Charlotte Wessels 2021-es eltávozása előtt magáénak tudhatott a zenekar. Mondhatjuk, hogy ha a főnök, Martijn Westerholt nem ennyire elkötelezett a banda iránt, akkor már nem is beszélhetnénk Delainről. De ő mindig próbál talpra állni, és szerintem a kezdetek után most lesz a legnehezebb dolga.

Volt egy közel 10 évig jól prosperáló összeállítás az egyik legszerethetőbb, legközvetlenebb énekesnővel az élen, akinek a színpadi lénye, kisugárzása, jelenléte, a közönséggel való kommunikációja kiemelte a jelenlegi szcéna frontasszonyai közül. Az igazi szomszédlány-effektust éreztem nála, többször sikerült koncert után szót váltani vele, és egy igazi tündéri teremtés. Ami a zenekar többi tagját illeti, egész jól sikerült pótolni a kikerült tagokat, sőt nagy fegyverténynek tekinthető, hogy korábbi zenészeket sikerült közel 10 vagy több év után visszacsábítani.

Csak hát ugye a frontlány szerepe itt nagyon hangsúlyos kérdés. A legsikeresebb időszak zenészeihez fazonra nagyon hasonló srácokat sikerült találnia a főnöknek, ugyanis az olasz Ludovico Cioffi basszusgitáros kinézetre és színpadi mozgásra nagyon emlékeztetett Otto Schimmelpenninckre, nem gondoltam volna, hogy van még olyan basszeros, akinek ekkora haja van.

Ronald Landa gitáros is nagyon emlékeztetett fizimiskájában Timo Somersre, ráadásul a konferanszié szerepet is gyakran magához ragadó hangszeres egész jól hozta a régi tételeket. Ami valahol érthető, ugyanis a program egy részének születésekor még ő is aktív tag volt.

Ugyanez igaz volt a dobok mögött helyet foglaló Sander Zoerre is, akit szintén visszahívtak, és aki ugyanúgy jelen volt a program nagy részének eredeti feljátszásakor.

Még egy dolgot sikerült átmenteni a korábbi sikeres szakaszból, az pedig a látvány és a konfettiágyú. Még Charlotte használta azt a mikrofonállványt, ami a színpadi fényekkel összhangban világított, és amit most Diana Leah örökölt meg.

Az új énekesnő amúgy egész korrekt módon hozta a régi tételeket, sőt, néha olyan érzésem volt, hogy azért esett rá a választás, mert az orgánuma nagyon hasonlít elődjére. Amikor becsuktam a szemem, bizonyos részeknél simán Charlotte hangját hallottam, ami alapvetően nem rossz eredmény, csak hát az a bizonyos plusz… Az új anyag is jó, de a koncert megmutatta, hogy az igazán nagy őrjöngés a régi slágerekre volt.

Nagyot nem lehet velük hibázni, mert olyan slágerparádét raktak össze, amik mindig is jól bevált ütőkártyák voltak egy Delain-koncerten. És ezek a dalok most is ütöttek! Sőt, még azt is sikerült megoldaniuk, hogy a turnéra egy kisegítő énekes srác is jött velük, az alacsony termetű, de hatalmas hanggal megáldott Paolo Ribaldini, aki olyan dalokban jelent meg, amik eredetijében Marco Hietala, a Nightwish volt basszusgitárosa énekelt, és Paolo hangja néha szintén nagyon emlékeztetett elődje jellegzetes orgánumára.

A koncert közepén volt egy háromszámos blokk, amiben feltűnt az énekes, és aminek záró tétele az a The Gathering volt, ami a banda egyik legnagyobb slágere, itt nálam is előjött a libabőr, a közepén a kiállás után pedig érkezett a menetrendszerű konfettiágyú. Van ami nem változik, de talán jó is így.

Ami a programot illeti, ügyesen úgy rakták össze, hogy nem pakolták agyon az új tételekkel, inkább 3-4 régi nóta után vettek elő egy friss darabot. Így a régi slágerek okozta eufória továbbvitt minket az új tételekre is. A csak közel félig megtelt kis sátor is jelezte, hogy ez a Delain már (még) nem az a Delain, amit sokan szerettünk. Akik ott voltak, azokra nem lehetett panasz, a „Delain! Delain!” skandálás szinte folyamatos volt a koncert alatt, Martijn többször lejött a ledekkel felturbózott hangszere mögül, hogy meghajolva megköszönje a fogadtatást.

Hogy a technika ördöge is közbeszóljon, szegény Ronaldnak a buli közepe felé elszállt a gitárja, és percekbe tellett, mire egy másikba életet lehelve folytatódott a koncert. Az még látszott a csapaton, hogy az ilyen üres időkre nincs meg a rutin, Diana ezt próbálta kitölteni azzal, hogy elmondta, ő román leányzó, és ugyan szomszédos ország vagyunk, de még sosem járt nálunk. Nem biztos, hogy ez volt a nyerő: kínos téma egy kínos szünetben.

Nem csak hangban hasonlított Diana az elődre, volt pár olyan mozdulata is, amik szintén ismerősek voltak korábbról. De ezzel nincs baj, bele fog jönni, rutint kell még szereznie, mert amúgy a közönséggel nagyon barátságos volt. A szívecskéket folyamatosan dobálta felénk, és az első sorok az ökölpacsiból is kimerítő mennyiséget kaptak tőle.

Az estet záró részen két nóta erejéig Paolo újra színpadon termett, és be kell valljam, a plusz énekes szerepeltetése kiváló döntés volt, mert így a duetteket nem samplerről kellett megoldani. Hogy meddig tart a kollaboráció, az még kérdés, de jó döntés lenne minél tovább megtartani, ugyanis sokkal élvezetesebb egy élő hangot hallani, mint valami magnóról bejátszottat, még ha az Marco hangja is.

Zárásként újabb gigasláger, a We Are The Others érkezett, a közönség nagy ovációja és éneklése kíséretében, ami után azt éreztem, hogy még a zenekar is meglepődött az ennyire melegszívű fogadtatáson.

The Cold / Suckerpunch / Burning Bridges / The Quest And The Curse / April Rain / Get The Devil Out Of Me / Sleepwalkers Dream / Invidia / Queen Of Shadow / Your Body Is A Battleground / The Gathering / Don’t Let Go / Moth To A Flame / Not Enough / Mother Machine / Control The Storm / Sing To Me / We Are The Others

A svájci Illumishade matekmetaljához más szellemiség kell, mint az enyém, de Fabienne teljesítménye nagyot emelt a színvonalon és végülis minőségi produktumot nyújtottak. A Delain fellépésétől – bevallom – előtte tartottam, mert nagyon kedveltem a csapatot, és nem tudtam, mit várhatok a nagy változás után. Direkt nem néztem semmilyen élő felvételt tőlük. És nem volt rossz! Annak kifejezetten örültem, hogy ennyi kedvencem terítékre került, és az új énekesnő egész korrekten hozta azokat. Jó döntés volt egy orgánumban hasonlót keresni, így nincs akkora kontraszt a régi dalok élőben való prezentálásában, illetve nyugodtan elő lehet venni a nagy slágereket, mert nem lesznek teljesen mások, mint ahogy megszoktuk. Az a bizonyos plusz sajnos távozott, és már nem lesz ugyanolyan egy Delain-koncert, de én örülök, hogy mégis vannak, és hogy így teljesítenek. Kezdő lépésnek mindenképpen jó volt ez a koncert! Szerintem biztosan találkozni fogunk még. Ha rajtam múlik…

Szöveg és fotó: Savafan Köszönet a CONCERTO Musicnak a lehetőségért!

#Barba Negra #Koncertbeszámolók

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