Independent Release
Review by Davide Torresan
It’s always nice to discover new bands like this one. Clair De lune tries with this “Introduction to…” to make itself known outside of their country, El Salvador. After some changes in the line-up and in the band’s name, they reached a stable line-up. Their musical style is certainly not classic since they can boast the presence of a violinist, an opera singer and a growler in the group. From these 3 elements I was expecting a gothic metal band, but I was wrong. They do a particular type of symphonic metal with a touch of ordinary madness. I’d say that we are dealing with an avant-garde metal band.
“Introduction to …”, whose cover immediately reminded me the one of “Angels Fall First” by Nightwish, is a demo with only 4 songs that explain directly to the listener the abilities of Clair De Lune. Although the band name is clearly inspired by “Moonlight Sonata” of Beethoven, the atmospheres of this demo are not really calm. After a short orchestrated “Intro”, the very first song makes its appearance: “Soul Mirror”. It has a roaring start that grows with a pounding drum, heavy guitar riffs, a majestic keyboard, the sweet sound of a flute and an angry growl. After a while the lyrical voice of the singer Karen Rodríguez enters the scene. I think that it matches perfectly with the feral growl of Stanley Cabrera.
The flute’s use gives a medieval touch to this song, but in the bridge is replaced by a half bass solo and one with the violin. Stanley‘s voice becomes darker and devilish, so it increases the distance between it and the sweetness of the female voice. Indeed if it wasn’t for this one, I’d talk of symphonic black metal. “La Voz De Dios” is, as you can guess from the title, a sort of prayer in its native language. Both the voices alternate, punctuated by the sound of a harpsichord. The last song is a live recording of “Ladava y el Juego de Reyes”. It has been recorded from a concert in San Salvador where Clair De Lune supported Epica as guests. Sincerely it doesn’t make sense to add this type of recording since the audio quality is really horrible. This song is quite similar to “Soul Mirror”, but this time the sweet melodies of violin and piano replace the flute. Surely “Introduction to …” has a raw production and though they did the little mistake of adding that live recording, I see some talent in them. Recommended!
Rating – 68/100
Tracklist
- Intro
- Soul Mirror
- La Voz De Dios
- Ladava y el Juego de Reyes (live)
Line Up
- Karen Rodríguez – Vocals
- Stanley Cabrera – Harsh vocals
- Julio Sánchez – Keyboards & composer
- Josue Flores – Violin & viola
- Erick Rivera – Guitars
- Hecor Garcia – Guitars
- Alejandro Cabrera – Bass
- Alfredo Cabrera – Drums
Links