Label : Twilight Records
Review by Luisa Mercier
Aythis is the side project of Carline Van Roos, already known for being the frontwoman of doom-metallers Lethian Dreams, which releases I had the pleasure to listen and review some time ago. In this project, Carline expresses her ambient side, leaving outside guitar and metal noise, focusing on atmosphere, lush sounds, synth, keyboards, vocals without renouncing to a quite gloomy mood.
The opener and title-track points out towards this direction and will leave you with a feeling of melancholia that following “Ether” will only enhance. The song has some Medieval feeling, reminding me of Arcana and other neoclassical acts. Vocals are soaring and solemn and mix with the orchestral synth sounds that will leave you under the impression to be in an ancient cathedral. At least til the moment when a flute comes in and a more ethnic/folk feeling takes over. It is quite crystal clear that she has retained the doom feeling from the releases with her bands, but in this solo project there are more influence. For example, “Silvery Night” is more acoustic-oriented, folkish with an epic feeling towards the end of the song.
“Wolfsmond” is again in the solemn vein, really synth-based and uplifting. I have to say that all the instruments are played by talented Carline and this impressed me much. “Solemn”, the title says it all, I could say. I think it is the most orchestral track on the album with some nice piano moments. “Last Ritual” is more varied, it alternates epic moments to more moody ones and I really liked the change since it was what I was expecting now. The tracks, even though good, are all a bit similar to each other and can become tedious on the long run. Last track is “Wounded Asylum” which is again solemnn, sad, even though Carline‘s vocals are more clear than in other tracks where they mixed with the music. “New Earth” is definetely a good record, if you love dark ambient with folk tinges, you will really like it, otherwise it might result a bit boring in the end.
Rating – 70/100
Tracklist
- New Earth
- Ether
- Silvery Night
- Wolfsmond
- Solemn
- Last Ritual
- Wounded Asylum
Line Up
- Carline Van Roos – Vocals & instruments
Links