Label : Frontiers Records
Review by Tony Cannella
Until recently, Amanda Somerville has been most notable for her work with Epica and Avantasia, but in the last few years she has released a solo album (“Windows”), an album with ex-Helloween singer Michael Kiske, and now her new melodic metal project Trillium. The debut from Trillium is called “Alloy”, and is another great showcase for Amanda’s beautiful vocals, but she also shows different sides to her vocals and music that she has not shown on previous albums. First thing is that Trillium is a melodic metal masterpiece, lyrically and vocally Amanda displays anger and an attitude, but also vulnerability throughout “Alloy”. Some of the lyrics have an edge to them and the vocals follow suit. “Alloy” opens with the aggressive “Machine Gun” which is about as subtle as a machine gun. “Coward” follows and is rightfully the first video from “Alloy”. “Purge” is next and opens with rapid fire guitar riffs and I would love to see this be the next video – my favorite song, without a doubt. Amanda is joined by a wide array of musicians. Sascha Paeth handled the production duties as well as guitar, bass, keyboards and he also co-wrote many of the songs with Amanda. Another big name is guest is Jorn Lande who adds his distinctive vocals to “Scream It” on a duet with Amanda. This song lulls you into a false sense of serenity before the song picks up the tempo and Jorn and Amanda work well together. Other highlights include: the moody, tempo changing “Utter Descension”, “Bow to the Ego” and “Path of Least Resistance”, but I could mention every song, I don’t think there is a weak moment on “Alloy”. It is one of those rare albums that starts off strong, finishes strong and everything in between is just as strong. With 2011 coming to a close, I suspect that “Alloy” will be at the top of many yearend lists. In a word – and I don’t mean to oversimplify things – “Alloy” is awesome and one of the best albums I have heard all year. Amanda Somerville is fast becoming one of my favorite singers and I can’t wait to hear what she does next.
Rating – 100/100
Tracklist
- Machine Gun
- Coward
- Purge
- Utter Descension
- Bow to the Ego
- Mistaken
- Scream It
- Justifiable Casualty
- Path of Least Resistance
- Into The Dissonance
- Slow It Down
- Love Is An Illusion
Line Up
- Amanda Somerville – Lead Vocals
- Sascha Paeth – Guitar, Keyboards & Drums
- Olaf Reitmeier – Acoustic Guitars
- Sander Gommans – Guitars
- Michael Rodenberg – Arrangements and Keyboards
- Simon Oberender – Keyboards
- Robert Hunecke – Drums
Links
MySpace * ReverbNation * Facebook * Twitter * Site