Moonbathers

Well the great thing about patience and persistence is that eventually it will pay off big time. As much as I love Lucidity and April Rain, and as good as The Human Contradiction was (it was excellent), with Moonbathers Delain have managed to absolutely improve in every area and in doing so have delivered their best work to date. The key here is maturity – maturity in songwriting, lyrics and sound. I have to say I was a bit worried with the Lunar Prelude EP. “Suckerpunch” and “Turn the Lights Out” were over the top pop rock. While great songs, I was worried about what had happened to the gothic metal influence and the theatrical creativity that had defined The Human Contradiction. No worries. Those 2 songs are solid, but everything else here eclipses that “lunar prelude.” The opening 2 tracks are just absolutely huge! There is plenty of metal crunch, and plenty of catchy Charlotte Wessels power and melody. Alissa White-Gluz (like what album has she not been singing on lately?) once again helps out on the opener “Hands of Gold,” but “The Glory and the Scum” may actually top that one with its insightful commentary on the human nature. “The Hurricane” has that wonderful power ballad vibe with a more commercial appeal, but it’s topped by the emotive ballad which follows where Charlotte brings a much more mature vocal performance than anything I’ve heard from her to date. Yes, “Chrysalis” brings the tears. The haunting melodies accompanied by piano perfectly define the nature of an essential relationship in jeopardy of dissolution. Delain have never before delivered a song with this much sincere emotion and passion. Beautiful. Of course, this is metal, so the band quickly transitions into the up tempo “Fire with Fire,” which is probably the heaviest and fastest song on the recording – the drums and guitars carry the weight of the punch while Wessels soars over the top with an almost “gaelic” vocal delivery. Can you say metal anthem? But there is more. “Pendulum” and “Danse Macabre” offer a slightly darker edge but remain catchy and melodic. The latter tune represents yet another standout tune where Wessels experiments further with her lilting vocal outpouring. I don’t normally like cover tunes, but I love the interpretation of Queen’s “Scandal” – a song which fits well within Delain’s world of exploring the nature of relationships. Not surpisingly, all of this brilliance closes out with yet another “emotionally moving” moment with “The Monarch,” which lyrically feels like a sequel to “Chrysalis – The Last Breath.” The final words here are a strong sentiment about Delain’s own metamorphosis – “Transform I said and show them how you’ve grown.”Moonbathers feels like a monumental album for Delain. The mixing and mastering is solid and the songs each stand well alone but the collective is cohesive as well. This music is quite heavy with the exception of the noteworthy ballad tracks. Yes, this could be their heaviest output to date, but it is clearly their most mature work without a doubt. The deluxe packaging is solid and the bonus disc, while pretty typical of what they’ve delivered with recent releases, is a nice addition. It is apparent Delain want their fans to know they are a real band (hence all of the live tracks), but the orchestral tracks are always a welcome addition for fans of symphonic metal.

I love Delain, however I have not bought a CD since April Rain. I remember Charlotte lighting up my world vocally, while impressively Sander Zoer spit drum patterns that were totally unique and unpredictable. I haven't purchased a Delain CD since April Rain because of economic reasons(why is We Are The Others so expensive?), not a personal dislike of their new music. Fast forward to 2016 with the release of Moonbathers, their 5th full length album, Delain has gone from being an up and coming band with famed Within Temptation keyboardist Martijn Westerholt backing them with promising new singer Charlotte Wessels, to a Behemoth of a Symphonic Metal band.Moonbathers is nothing new for Delain, which isn't a bad thing. Delain deliver an awesomely melodic heavy record that contains catchy riffs and chorus' with Hooks for days. Charlotte soars effortlessly, her voice being one of the most unique in the Symph Metal scenes. She has such a strong voice and her vibrato is totally unstoppable. Though the band performs spectacularly, Charlotte is undeniably the draw of Delain. My favorite performance on this album is in Turn the Lights Out, where during the chorus she falsetto's into full voiced vibrato while singing "Turns the light out." Charlotte's unique voice elevates and separtes Delain from other European symph band to a heavy hitting Juggernaut. Lyrically it is a ton of fun.All the praise for their front woman aside, Delain has the music locked down. The heavy hitting guitars and bass are compliments of Timo Somers(Guitar), Merel Bechtold(newest guitar player) and Otto Schimmelpenninck van der Oije(Bass guitar and the man who finished a concert with a ruptured testicle). Ruben Israel on drums does a good job with the beat. All of this brutal heaviness is accented by Martijn Westerholt with his fantastical keyboards and orchestral backgrounds along with excellent production values.Moonbathers is a must have for Delain fans. If you have explored Delains prior outings and didn't care for them, your opinion probably won't change on this album. However if you loved their prior outings, this album is a natural progression and fantastic none the less.

Best full Delain album since April Rain. The last couple albums had great songs, but so many felt so far from what I and others felt was the "Delain" sound we came to love from their first two albums. Expectations were high for this album and I think it totally surpassed them with a single exception.Songs 2-11 are all top tier Delain songs, but the first song "Hands of Gold" is by far the worst of the album due entirely to the dare I say awful vocal performance. First listening through it I said "God I hope the rest of the album isn't like this" because it is just a terrible vocal performance that should leave anyone listening asking how it made it through production sounding this way.The rest of the album kicks butt and doesn't let up but for a brief moment with Chrysalis, then its right back to fierce and epic. The vocals are right back on track with "The Glory and the Scum" onward. I have loved the production sound of Delain for as long as they've been around, especially April Rain, and its been a huge influence on my writing but the sound now is even more epic due in large part to the positioning of the guitars in the mix. They are more present and you can tell there are two guitarists now, each clearly positioned left or right, with each having a distinct sound, making the mix that much deeper. The new drummer takes it to a new level as well.Best album to date, most cohesive and complete sounding work yet, huge props to them for giving us all this album to enjoy over and over!

Another very good album from Delain, IMO topping (albeit narrowly) their previous outing. I'd say this album overall has a slightly more "heavy" feel to it than The Human Contradiction, aided I suppose with the addition of a second guitarist in Merel Bechtold, but still has some great melodies, and the orchestral elements are more prominent than before. Charlotte is in fine form with her vocals, and there's a guest appearance by Alyssa White-Gluz, whose death growls add contrast to Charlotte's clear and melodic voice.

Another superb album from Charlotte Wessels and the band. Added to my growing collection of symphonic rock including Nightwish & Epica.. ..So glad to have discovered these great bands as I head to retirement as we stay stuck in covid lockdown!

Delain are such an underrated band, this is another great rock / metal album from them

Great cd only 1 thing although I gave this 5 stars I would give the human contradiction 6 as this cd doesn't quite quite hit me the same way but great band excellent vocals as usual , go buy it .

Great quality cd