Die After Day - Ad illuc memoria 3/5
Reviewed: 8-1-11
Tracklist:
1. Thunderstone
2. Nights
3. In the shade of you
4. Angels must die... too
5. Misery lady
6. Ad illuc memoria
7. Behind the wall
8. Lost in paradise
9. Dark forever
10. Moonlight's moon
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From the land of the obscure comes Die After Day and their full-length debut 'Ad illuc memoria'. This French band has obviously been influenced by the massive wave of female fronted symphonic/gothic metal bands, but that's not to say they're typical for the style. In fact, there is nothing commercial or poppy with this CD, and it's not one of those CDs that leans towards power metal either; so despite being female fronted, this band is unlike Within Temption, HB, Xandria and Delain, and they're also unlike Amberian Dawn, Visions of Atlantis, Wildpath, Edenbridge and Nightwish. Instead, they offer up a dark and emotional journey with many slow songs and mid-paced is as fast as it gets. Much of the CD could actually be considered doom, bringing to mind bands like Draconian, Amederia and Auto-De-Fe. The songs are long too - mostly hovering around 6 to 8 minutes.
Vocally, the band is fronted by Rose (with no last name given), and she has a wonderful voice of the soprano type. She does a terrific job at matching the emotion and atmosphere of the music, and she'll definitely please fans of operatic vocals. There are no male vocals, so this is not a "beauty and the beast" band a la the mentioned Draconian, Amederia and Auto-De-Fe. I'm torn with this difference, as I like Rose's voice and how it flows with the music, but since it's a dark CD, I wouldn't mind the addition of a "beast" either. Regardless, the vocals are surely one of the band's strongest aspects and there are plenty of "beauty and the beast" bands out there already.
Though the guitars have a fairly raw sound, they fit the band's style and there are enough guitar solos to highlight portions of the CD. That said, this is not a CD that's going to blow you away with guitar riffs, and Draconian (for a quick example) is far superior regarding guitar work. The songs are good though, and the CD as a whole is consistently solid. However, if not in the right mood - with the songs all being lengthy, slow to mid-paced, and the CD's running time being around 66 minutes, I find myself getting a bit bored near the end and looking forward to the next CD. This really depends on mood though, so those who find my vocal and musical descriptions intriguing should certainly check out this debut.
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