I'm a good week behind this review, but I was so buried under my schoolwork I barely had any time to sleep. (And consequently, I was tired and in a bad mood.) Now that I've got some rest, I quickly put it together - it was already in my head; moreover, I've listened to the album no less than seven times, and several more times to my favourite songs.
I admit I didn't listen to much Delain beforehand - I had two songs on my iPod, that's all. I first became excited about them when I heard they were going to tour with Within Temptation - turns out, only after the release of their new album. When I finally listened to the album, I was that much more devastated I couldn't hear them live, because this record is quite amazing, and it would have been worth a listen. Not their best, but this kind of music is my happy genre.
I heard Stardust first (which is the third song), when the video came out on youtube - it sounded too pop to me, a bit like a Within Temptation-esque gothic rock song. I don't like the term, but it really is radio-friendly. Since then, I've come to like the song, but there are better ones on the album. The opening Here Come the Vultures is a bit creepy, the vocal capabilities of Charlotte come right out. This is the kind of delightfully creepy I liked so much in Anette's Imaginaerum singing. To remain on-topic, Your Body Is A Battleground features Marco Hietala of Nightwish - out of the two appearances he has on the album, this is my favourite. It isn't some revolutionary song, but I really like it (also, it has some weird but good lyrics). The fourth song is My Masquerade, which for all its lyrical simplicity is still one of my favourites. The deep vocals here have some really interesting contrast, plus the rhythm and pace of the song is really energizing. Tell Me, Mechanist is a bit chaotic to me, but it's a good song. I was slightly disappointed in Sing to Me - it also features Marco, and it's kind of heavier, so I thought I'd like it better (I do like it, I'm just not crazy about it), but they just don't work together for me. (It's already gone if I'm thinking how much better I'd like it if it was Tarja in it with Marco. I wasn't even a Tarja fangirl, I'd started to listen to Nightwish when Anette was the singer.) Army of Dolls is a strange song - it's heavy guitars one moment, some pop-ish thump-thump the next, then full force again... I think it really fits the theme of the song, somehow I really like it. My absolute favourite however is Lullaby, with its simple piano intro and straightforward guitars. I normally love poetry-like overabundant lyrics, from which this couldn't be further - it's disarmingly simple, the simplest one on the whole album, while not making much sense. I really can't explain why I am so hooked on it. The last song is a bit slower, but it's far from a ballad - I find it a bit boring, so I think it's unfortunate that this was chosen as the closing song - I like a well-composed album, and this one is not. Nevertheless, there are plenty of great songs, so it's definitely worth a listen. Then you can pick out your favourites, and stick with them.
My top 3 picks: Your Body Is A Battleground; My Masquarade; Lullaby
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