Wednesday 16 April 2014

Delain The Human Contradiction Review by Amelia

Score: 7.5/10

Current Line-up:

Charlotte Wessels - vocals
Martijn Westerholt - keys
Sander Zoer - drums
Otto Schimmelpenninck - bass
Timo Somers - guitars

Guest Musicians:

Alissa White-Gluz (Arch Enemy, ex-The Agonist) - vocals
Marco Hietala (Nightwish) - vocals
George Oosthoek - vocals


Tracklisting:

01 Here Come the Vultures
02 Your Body Is A Battleground
03 Stardust
04 My Masquerade
05 Tell Me, Mechanist
06 Sing To Me
07 Army Of Dolls
08 Lullaby
09 The Tragedy Of The Commons

"The Human Contradiction" is the latest release from the Dutch band, Delain.

When I first listened to this album, I immediately noticed a change in musical style. It was much heavier compared to their previous album, "We Are The Others", and I felt as though it had an almost poppy feel here and there. I also thought that it was very reminiscent to how they sound live.

The band are known in the symphonic metal community for having guest musicians on their albums, most notably, Marco Hietala (Nightwish), who has been collaborating with the band since their debut album "Lucidity". On "The Human Contradiction", he features on "Your Body Is A Battleground", in which Napalm Recrods released a lyric video for and "Sing to Me", where Charlotte and Marco sing a duet together. Amongst this dreamlike host of guest musicians is Alissa White-Gluz (Arch Enemy, ex-The Agonist), who features on "The Tragedy of the Commons". She contributes both clean vocals and grunts on this song which, I think, adds a really nice touch to the song by making it even heavier than it already is. And last but not least, with the addition of George Oosthoek who, like Marco Hietala, has collaborated with the band since "Lucidity", the album is rounded off nicely as a whole. 

My favourite songs from the album are Here Come the Vultures, My Masquerade, Sing to Me and Lullaby. 


The reason why I have given the album a 7.5/10 is because it was difficult for me to get into at first because of the change in musical style. I will say that, if you are familiar with Delain, it will take you a couple of listens to get used to their new sound but after that, I'm sure you will love it just as I do! 

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