Genre: Symphonic Metal
Year: 2014
Country: Netherlands
Tracklist:
1. Here Come the Vultures
2. Your Body Is a Battleground
3. Stardust
4. My Masquerade
5. Tell Me, Mechanist
6. Sing To Me
7. Army of Dolls
8. Lullaby
9. The Tragedy of the Commons
Bonus Audio CD:
1. Scarlet
2. Don't Let Go
3. My Masquerade (Live)
4. April Rain (Live)
5. Go Away (Live)
6. Sever (Live)
7. Stay Forever (Live)
8. Sing To Me (Orchestra version)
9. Your Body Is A Battleground (Orchestra version)
Delain always seemed as a rough diamond with a lot of potential, always almost touching the greatness, but finally being nothing more than another Symphonic Metal band in the pile. Lucidity was a good album, beat by April Rain, but none was full of good songs or ideas. Some tunes were very catchy, the audio was fine -very good in April Rain-, and the symphonic aspect was regular too. There was nothing bad about them, but also nothing outstanding, new or exciting enough to make those works a true jewel.
Their two next albums were worse in every aspect, with almost only unremarkable songs. "We Are The Others" and "Breath On Me" are the only tracks that are worth to remember in those disks.
Having this things in mind, The Human Contradiction couldn't be less than a big surprise for everyone. It's, no doubt, the best compilation released by Delain, due to, mostly, better ideas. The sound has improved and the style has mutated into a more heavy one, but it's the composition, what has changed in the best of ways, gaining complexity, variety, and a bit of novelty.
The version we are reviewing here is the Limited/Fan Edition, priced at €16.99 at www.napalmrecords.com, and at $15.47 at www.amazon.com. It has two disks: one, the main album, containing nine songs; the other, the "Bonus" one, which contains nine songs also. Lets check out the main album first.
The improvement we just mentioned, sadly, doesn't extend to the full disk, which has a few weak spots. The first one is some not-so-good-songs, like Army Of Dolls and The Tragedy Of Commons. The other one is its length.
The total playtime of it is of 41:56 minutes, that, divided in 9 songs gives 4:40 minutes per song. Given the fact that this compilation, in CD format, is priced at €11.99, at www.napalmrecords.com and at $12.26 at www.amazon.com, makes you wonder where is the rest of this full-length album -since it's missing at least one track-. It's a little bit pricy, frankly, for this amount of content. However, you can go for the digital purchase, where every song is priced at .99 at the itunes store.
The first track is powerful, melodic a with a big array of different tunes. Until half of the album, there are only great songs; one after another, it's like being hit over and over again by wave after wave of delight; increasing in strength till the climax, the album best song, Sing To Me. After, comes just the mediocre outcome, with no song truly remarkable
Year: 2014
Country: Netherlands
Tracklist:
1. Here Come the Vultures
2. Your Body Is a Battleground
3. Stardust
4. My Masquerade
5. Tell Me, Mechanist
6. Sing To Me
7. Army of Dolls
8. Lullaby
9. The Tragedy of the Commons
Bonus Audio CD:
1. Scarlet
2. Don't Let Go
3. My Masquerade (Live)
4. April Rain (Live)
5. Go Away (Live)
6. Sever (Live)
7. Stay Forever (Live)
8. Sing To Me (Orchestra version)
9. Your Body Is A Battleground (Orchestra version)
Delain always seemed as a rough diamond with a lot of potential, always almost touching the greatness, but finally being nothing more than another Symphonic Metal band in the pile. Lucidity was a good album, beat by April Rain, but none was full of good songs or ideas. Some tunes were very catchy, the audio was fine -very good in April Rain-, and the symphonic aspect was regular too. There was nothing bad about them, but also nothing outstanding, new or exciting enough to make those works a true jewel.
Their two next albums were worse in every aspect, with almost only unremarkable songs. "We Are The Others" and "Breath On Me" are the only tracks that are worth to remember in those disks.
Having this things in mind, The Human Contradiction couldn't be less than a big surprise for everyone. It's, no doubt, the best compilation released by Delain, due to, mostly, better ideas. The sound has improved and the style has mutated into a more heavy one, but it's the composition, what has changed in the best of ways, gaining complexity, variety, and a bit of novelty.
The version we are reviewing here is the Limited/Fan Edition, priced at €16.99 at www.napalmrecords.com, and at $15.47 at www.amazon.com. It has two disks: one, the main album, containing nine songs; the other, the "Bonus" one, which contains nine songs also. Lets check out the main album first.
The improvement we just mentioned, sadly, doesn't extend to the full disk, which has a few weak spots. The first one is some not-so-good-songs, like Army Of Dolls and The Tragedy Of Commons. The other one is its length.
The total playtime of it is of 41:56 minutes, that, divided in 9 songs gives 4:40 minutes per song. Given the fact that this compilation, in CD format, is priced at €11.99, at www.napalmrecords.com and at $12.26 at www.amazon.com, makes you wonder where is the rest of this full-length album -since it's missing at least one track-. It's a little bit pricy, frankly, for this amount of content. However, you can go for the digital purchase, where every song is priced at .99 at the itunes store.
The first track is powerful, melodic a with a big array of different tunes. Until half of the album, there are only great songs; one after another, it's like being hit over and over again by wave after wave of delight; increasing in strength till the climax, the album best song, Sing To Me. After, comes just the mediocre outcome, with no song truly remarkable
The alternate use of male and female vocals has improved considerably, with a more deep, rich, and varied mix. It suffices to hear to the chorus in "Sing To Me" or in "My Masquerade", to see that.
The band, as usual, follows a classic song structure (AABA), with always welcome little variations -like in "Your Body Is A Battleground", were the chorus appears for the first time at the middle of the track-, but nothing remarkable.
It debuts here a heavy style, never before shown by the band. Heavy, even though only in "The Tragedy Of Commons" and in "Tell Me, Mechanist" there are harsh vocals. Gone is the melodic style and lethargy of the past albums. Instead, lots of heavy riffs and aggressive melodies are everywhere.
Is this a good or bad thing? The change in style can't be qualified as good or bad, really nothing can. All is a matter of taste, but forgetting this statement for a moment, what is really nice here, are the most catchy choruses ever displayed by Delain in any album.
Now, about the "bonus disk", it has a total playtime of 38:32 minutes, divided in nine songs. That's a lot for a bonus disk. However, this doesn't seem to be one since it has two completely new songs, that should be in the main album. It doesn’t seem right to have just nine songs in the central disk, and at the same time, nine in the bonus disk, specially since the first one is priced as a full length album. It would make more sense if the eleven new songs were part of the main album, and the seven remaining ones, of the bonus one.
Five pieces, are live versions. They aren't remarkable at all. They are just the same album songs, but with bad audio, mixed with the noise of mob applauding, screaming, and trying to sing. There is little or no variation at all in this tracks, versus the original ones. We don't know why someone would prefer to hear those instead of the original ones, and, even more, decide to pay for them.
The grinding for money, doesn't stop there, and as a way to justify this "bonus disk", two "Orchestral Versions" were put in it. Nothing new or worth of attention here. These are just the symphonic base of each song, slightly edited.
In sum, does it worth the money buy this Limited Edition? Well, the answer to us clearly is NO; unless, of course, if you are a hardcore fan of the band, in which case you should probably go for the Vinyl, or if you have enough money to wipe your ass with it. We really don't see the point in paying for these "live version" tracks when they are nothing more than the same album song played live, with no plus at all.
The work done in the audio here, makes a big step forward from the two previous works. The kick and drums sounds deep and powerful, and the guitar is just gorgeous, even though there is no guitar solo to be found. The symphonic instruments, however, were left a little behind, so they aren't easy to be heard when there are lots of instruments playing at the same time. Although the sound of April Rain is great too, we prefer rather this one for being a lot crispier without losing the bass or too much of the middle of the spectrum.
So, finally Delain releases a truly outstanding album, and with it, steps out of mediocrity.
Follow our community at http://vk.com/melolagniamaldita, if you want to listen to this album or others.
The band, as usual, follows a classic song structure (AABA), with always welcome little variations -like in "Your Body Is A Battleground", were the chorus appears for the first time at the middle of the track-, but nothing remarkable.
It debuts here a heavy style, never before shown by the band. Heavy, even though only in "The Tragedy Of Commons" and in "Tell Me, Mechanist" there are harsh vocals. Gone is the melodic style and lethargy of the past albums. Instead, lots of heavy riffs and aggressive melodies are everywhere.
Is this a good or bad thing? The change in style can't be qualified as good or bad, really nothing can. All is a matter of taste, but forgetting this statement for a moment, what is really nice here, are the most catchy choruses ever displayed by Delain in any album.
Now, about the "bonus disk", it has a total playtime of 38:32 minutes, divided in nine songs. That's a lot for a bonus disk. However, this doesn't seem to be one since it has two completely new songs, that should be in the main album. It doesn’t seem right to have just nine songs in the central disk, and at the same time, nine in the bonus disk, specially since the first one is priced as a full length album. It would make more sense if the eleven new songs were part of the main album, and the seven remaining ones, of the bonus one.
Five pieces, are live versions. They aren't remarkable at all. They are just the same album songs, but with bad audio, mixed with the noise of mob applauding, screaming, and trying to sing. There is little or no variation at all in this tracks, versus the original ones. We don't know why someone would prefer to hear those instead of the original ones, and, even more, decide to pay for them.
The grinding for money, doesn't stop there, and as a way to justify this "bonus disk", two "Orchestral Versions" were put in it. Nothing new or worth of attention here. These are just the symphonic base of each song, slightly edited.
In sum, does it worth the money buy this Limited Edition? Well, the answer to us clearly is NO; unless, of course, if you are a hardcore fan of the band, in which case you should probably go for the Vinyl, or if you have enough money to wipe your ass with it. We really don't see the point in paying for these "live version" tracks when they are nothing more than the same album song played live, with no plus at all.
The work done in the audio here, makes a big step forward from the two previous works. The kick and drums sounds deep and powerful, and the guitar is just gorgeous, even though there is no guitar solo to be found. The symphonic instruments, however, were left a little behind, so they aren't easy to be heard when there are lots of instruments playing at the same time. Although the sound of April Rain is great too, we prefer rather this one for being a lot crispier without losing the bass or too much of the middle of the spectrum.
So, finally Delain releases a truly outstanding album, and with it, steps out of mediocrity.
Follow our community at http://vk.com/melolagniamaldita, if you want to listen to this album or others.
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