INFOS : webzine@femmemetalwebzine.net

Webzine dedicated to the metal band fronted by girls. We also like ambient,darkwave,rock & electronic music.

Femme Metal Webzine
homeaskarchivetheme
reblog
»0 notes
posted 3 months ago

People, that’s the news that we’re waiting for - Within Temptation are RECORDING A NEW ALBUM!, read the statement in the link below!  (via Dutch Symphonic Rock superstars WITHIN TEMPTATION issued a new statement about the upcoming album « Femme Metal Webzine)

Source:femmemetalwebzine.net
reblog
»0 notes
posted 11 months ago
* Within Temptation - “The Unforgiving” (2011)

Label : Sony Music/Roadrunner Records

Review by Tony Cannella

It’s finally here! The long awaited, much anticipated new album from Dutch Symphonic Rock Legends Within Temptation called “The Unforgiving”. This album explores new ground, as it is their first full-blown concept album, based around the comic book by Steve O’Connell (BloodRayne & Dark 48). 12-songs and 55-minutes worth music is supplied on “The Unforgiving”. The CD kicks off with the narrative intro, “Why Not Me”, which sets the stage for the concept and it quickly leads into the bombastic opener “Shot in the Dark”, which is a classic Within Temptation style song and gets “The Unforgiving” started on the perfect note. “In the Middle of the Night” is as strong a song that can be heard on “The Unforgiving”. “Faster” is the first video track and was a solid choice. Other highlights include: “Fire and Ice”, the up-tempo “Iron”, “Where Is the Edge”, “A Demon’s Fate” and “Stairway to the Skies”. With “The Unforgiving” Within Temptation has not tried to re-invent the wheel, yet the band continues to challenge themselves both musically and lyrically. Sharon Den Adel is singing better than she ever has and the band is equally as ferocious throughout the entire CD. “The Unforgiving” is a true Within Temptation album that fits in nicely with the rest of their catalogue. This is an excellent album from this iconic band.

Rating - 90/100

Tracklist

  1. Why Not Me
  2. Shot in the Dark
  3. In The Middle of the Night
  4. Faster
  5. Fire and Ice
  6. Iron
  7. Where is the Edge
  8. Sinead
  9. Lost
  10. Murder
  11. A Demon’s Fate
  12. Stairway to the Skies

Line Up

  • Sharon Den Adel - Vocals
  • Robert Westerholt - Guitar, Vocals
  • Ruud Jolie - Guitar
  • Martijn Spierenburg – Keyboards
  • Jeroen Van Veen – Bass

Links

MySpace * Facebook * Google Plus * Twitter * Site

reblog
»0 notes
posted 1 year ago
* Pandemonaeon - “Dangerous Beauty” (2010)

Label : Trance Jam Records

Review by Tony Cannella

The band Pandemonaeon hails from Oakland, California and plays what they describe as Tribal Folk Metal. Their new album is called “Dangerous Beauty” and it offers a dark and exciting vision from vocalist Sharon Knight, Winter and their band mates. “Dangerous Beauty” also incorporates many Middle-Eastern and Celtic influences to their sound. From the very outset with the opener, “Eater of Sorrow”, Pandemonaeon draws the listener in with a captivating sound. With the beautiful vocals of Sharon Knight at the helm, the opening track is a strong number; some male, demonic sounding vocals are supplied to enhance an already excellent track. The melodically charged “Lover’s Pardon” is then followed by the folk-ish “Fierce Black Soul of Night” keeping things on a steady course. “Hunter” is a moody, ballady kind of track featuring vocals, tribal drums and flute as the main instrumentation. The next track, “Heart Girl With a Serpent” changes tempo several times and became an instant favorite. Other highlights include: “Dangerous Beauty”, “The Tower” and “Queen of Shadows”. The band incorporates many exotic non-traditional metal instruments such as Oud, Saz, Violin and many others that I can’t even spell, much less pronounce. According to their bio, Pandemonaeon were formed way back in 1996, so they have obviously been grinding it out for a long time. Hopefully, with “Dangerous Beauty” their hard work will be rewarded. Whether it is or isn’t, you still have to give it up for Pandemoaeon for recording such a good album.

Rating – 90/100

Tracklist

  1. Eater of Sorrow
  2. Lover’s Pardon
  3. Fierce Black Soul of Night
  4. Hunter
  5. Heart Girl With a Serpent
  6. Dangerous Beauty
  7. The Tower
  8. Queen of Shadows
  9. The Goat Is on the Pole
  10. Song of Mari
  11. Chalice & Blades
  12. Arrak
  13. Well of Lost Voices

Line Up

  • Sharon Knight - Lead & harmony vocals, acoustic guitar, mandola, percussion, keyboard
  • Winter - Acoustic & electric guitars, percussion, harmony vocals
  • Tim Rayborn - Garmony vocals, oud, saz, suling, dumbek, riqq
  • Gari Hegedus - Violin, mandocello, tarhu
  • Caith Threefires - Bass
  • Tina “Bean” Blaine - Dumbek, djembe, percussion
  • Mark Abbott - Drums

Links

MySpace * ReverbNation * BandCamp * Facebook * Site

reblog
»0 notes
posted 1 year ago
* Karnataka - “The Gathering Light” (2010)

Label : Immrama Records

Review by Tony Cannella

From the U.K., Karnataka have been showcasing their brand of Celtic influenced prog rock since their debut was released in 1998. Since then, the band have undergone several line-up changes but have persevered. Their new album - 4th studio release overall - is titled, “The Gathering Light”. Karnataka have amassed a loyal cult following over the years in prog rock circles, and “The Gathering Light” is an album that should be greeted warmly by fans of the band - old and new. Among the 8-songs, “The Gathering Light” features it’s share of long, epic type numbers that the band is known for. I love the vocals of Lisa Fury, who sometimes reminds me a bit of Sharon den Adel from Within Temptation. After the 2-minute intro, “The Calling”, Karnataka do the unthinkable, they start with the 9-minute instrumental, “State of Grace”. Very few bands would start a CD with a long, epic instrumental track - but you’ve got to give Karnataka credit for doing something a bit different. The 8-minute, “Your World” is the first song to feature vocals, an excellent track that showcases the immense talent of the entire band. “Moment in Time” is a wistful, orchestral ballad that is another highlight. Perhaps the center-piece on the CD is the 12-minute epic, “Forsaken”. This song is divided into three parts and is one of the best. The 14-minute, “The Gathering Light” brings the CD to a close, another big epic number and a great way to close out the CD. With “The Gathering Light”, Karnataka have delivered an ethereal musical and lyrical journey that should please fans of classic prog rock. Having only been vaguely familiar with Karnataka in the past, this band has definitely won me over.

Rating - 87/100

Tracklist

  1. The Calling
  2. State of Grace
  3. Your World
  4. Moment in Time
  5. The Serpent and the Sea
  6. Forsaken
  7. Tide to Fall
  8. The Gathering Light


Line Up

  • Lisa Fury - Vocals, Percussion
  • Enrico Pinna - Lead, Rhythm and Acoustic Guitars
  • Ian Jones - Bass, Keyboards, Piano, Programming
  • Gonzalo Carrera - Keyboards, Piano
  • Ian Harris - Drums

Links

MySpace * Facebook * Twitter * Site

reblog
»0 notes
posted 1 year ago
* AghonyA - “Oxygen” (2008)

Independent Release

Review by Mortuai

It’s days like this when I’m glad my first impressions are sometimes incorrect. I’ve had some bands send me releases for review before with little to no detail about the band or their background and more often than not, I’ve been disappointed by what I’ve heard for one reason or another. So when I received the request to take a look at “Oxygen”, the debut full-length from Santiago, Chile’s AghonyA, I quite frankly wasn’t expecting all that much, especially when I noted several of the track names on the MP3 files I was provided were misspelled and the band’s website and MySpace sites provided literally no information about the group’s background. Nothing. Zilch. Zero. This did not bode well in my mind, but I gritted my teeth and hit play, expecting an upcoming trial of endurance. Boy, was I wrong. After a bit of background digging through the miracle of the Intarwebs, I’ve still only managed to figure out a few things, namely that the band was apparently formed in Santiago in 2004, that their only prior release was a two-track self-titled demo released in 2006 and that they’ve played as a support act for a couple of the major names in femme metal when those bands came to Chile in the span of the past couple years. Which major names would those be? Funny you should ask, because they happen to be two of the bands who are fairly clearly the strongest influences on AghonyA’s style. I’ve often noted that a well-formed band properly marries the style of the vocalist with the style of the music, and in the case of AghonyA, it’s a near-perfect union. Vocalist/lyricist Cati Victoria Torrealba’s vocal style is most frequently reminiscent of a slightly lower-toned version of Sharon den Adel but with less of a ‘sweet’ tone and incorporating more of a forceful edge in an obvious nod to Floor Jansen. Not surprisingly, the band’s music matches up with almost exactly the same combination, incorporating strong influences of recent Within Temptation combined with more than a hint of latter-era After Forever. In less capable hands, such an attempted combination may have been disastrous, but fortunately, AghonyA manage to pull off the blend quite well. Synth effects and keyboard lines are strongly prevalent in almost every track, as could well be expected with the style of music, but perhaps in some cases they are a bit too prevalent - sometimes to the point where other instruments wind up being overshadowed by symphonic sound. For the most part, it’s entirely forgivable, but the group does commit one of my cardinal sins on the otherwise excellent cut “As It Dies”, absolutely burying a killer guitar lead from six-stringer Sebastian Coulton. That point said and ignoring the effects-driven intro and outro instrumental tracks, this is one flat-out superb release, chock-full of gorgeous and emotive layered-harmony vocal melodies, instantly-singable chorus segments, and downright catchy - if sometimes simplistic and occasionally derivative - music. Post-intro opening cut “Worlds Apart” and single-designated track “Lead Me Into You” reveal a third influence, calling immediately to mind recent releases from Lacuna Coil, particularly the latter, which features a vocal harmony line which would’ve fit right alongside the ‘Coilers tracks from “Karmacode”. Though those two songs are most likely to garner the most airplay for the band, the better songs in my mind come a bit later in the disc. Standout cuts are many. “Wish You Gone” is a killer groove-driven tune with some truly addictive melodies in both the musical and vocal departments, though it reveals a minor quibble of mine in Torrealba’s occasional attempt to shoehorn too many words into too little time, resulting in a disruption of the rhythmic flow - never so much it ruins the song, but definitely noticeable. The title track, an impassioned plea for a reduction in pollution, brings the After Forever influence to the forefront with its crunchingly-heavy riffs and emphatically-delivered vocal lines. “Finding Eternity” just plain crushes in a slow, hammering fashion…definitely the heaviest moment on the album…and “Endless Illusion” is another good candidate for a single release given its combination of nicely-flowing rhythms and strongly-memorable vocal harmonies. The best moment on the release, though - at least for me - is strangely enough the least ‘metal’ of the songs…the heartbreaking piano-and-vocal-driven personal introspective piece “One Last Lullaby”. Absolutely beautiful song, that’s all I can say, even if it does almost sound like something you might expect to hear as a pop diva ballad. In all honesty, I really wanted to rate this album even higher than I did because I really enjoyed listening to it. It’s not often I can listen to an album twice in a row straight through and not want to skip to certain tracks I like better than others, but this was certainly one of those deserving releases where almost everything (again, save for the intro and outro) was more than worth the time for another full playthrough. Unfortunately, the admittantly relatively minor issues I have with the album do add up to keep this from getting a perfect mark from me. Though slightly marred here and there and perhaps a little too derivative of their influences for those who might be craving something truly unique, “Oxygen” is still an all-around excellent debut, especially for an independent release, and marks AghonyA as a band to support now and to keep an eye on in the future.

Rating - 90/100

Tracklist

  1. The Blood of the Machine
  2. Worlds Apart
  3. Lead Me Into You
  4. Sure Way Out
  5. Delirious
  6. How Can I
  7. Wish You Gone
  8. The Last Lullaby
  9. Oxygen
  10. As It Dies
  11. Finding Eternity
  12. Critical Failure
  13. Fading Frequences

Line Up

  • Cati Victoria Torrealba – Vocals
  • Andres Cruz – Keyboards
  • Sebastian Coulon – Guitars
  • Javier Guzman – Drums 

Links

MySpace * Facebook