Label: Napalm Records
Review by Tony Cannella
It’s always exciting when one of your favorite bands releases a new album. Rightly or wrongly expectations are always so high, that it might be unfair to expect anyone to meet them. In my eyes, the Dutch outfit Delain have been on a steady rise since the release of their debut album “Lucidity” in 2006. The band has gotten better with each album, with their last one “The Human Contradiction” being my favorite Delain album, but really, I love them all. This brings us to their new album ”Moonbathers”. The opening song, ”Hands of Gold” is really a strong opener and is in many ways, a classic Delain song. Lead vocalist Charlotte Wessels is joined by Alissa White-Gluz from Arch Enemy on this one and the band balances infectious melodicism with the brutality supplied by Alissa‘s vocals. “The Glory and the Scum” is a nicely bombastic, melodic tune this quickly became another favorite. Most of us are already familiar with “Suckerpunch” which appeared on the band’s EP “Lunar Prelude”. Its still a great track. “The Hurricane” is a moody, punchy mid-tempo song. Other highlights include: “Chrysalis”, “Fire with Fire”, “Pendulum” and “Turn the Lights Out” (which was also on the “Lunar Prelude” EP). Another song that I really enjoyed was their cover of the Queen song ”Scandal” (from their “The Miracle” album). This is really cool and an interesting choice of songs to cover. At this point in their careers, Delain is working like a well-oiled machine these days. “Moonbathers” continues the string of quality records that Delain began ten years ago.
Rating - 90/100
Tracklist
- Hands of Gold
- The Glory and the Scum
- Suckerpunch
- The Hurricane
- Chrysalis The Last Breath
- Fire With Fire
- Pendulum
- Danse Macabre
- Scandal
- Turn the Lights Out
- The Monarch
Line Up
- Charlotte Wessels – Vocals
- Timo Somers – Guitar
- Merel Bechtold – Guitar
- Martijn Westerholt – Keyboards
- Otto Schimmelpenninck van der Oije – Bass
- Ruben Israel – Drums