Suspiria

My first encounter with Darkwell was way back in the day, when I watched the music video for Fate Prisoner (in 240p naturally), from their sophomore effort 'Metatron' - at the time I was only slightly impressed, and I didn't have the resources to pursue this band in any way. Needless to say, this band would be nothing but a forgotten memory had it not been for two things: 1) Stephanie Luzie, vocalist from 2003 until this bands eventual demise, sang in Atargatis, which is a band that I rather enjoy, and 2) at some point, I heard them again, all thanks to Pandora, something that I now seldom use, but has introduced me to many musical acts in the past. Unlike the rest of this four-review series, that covers bands that are somewhat less-well-known in the gothic metal scene, I can't pinpoint exactly when or how the Austria-native gothic metallers came back into my life; It probably happened between spring 2012 and summer 2014, back when this band was still officially broken up. To be honest, I was still slightly put-off by this band, but eventually they wormed their way into my heart via the ears...

Right off the bat, the most off-putting element of this act is probably the vocalist, Alexandra Pittracher - vocals for me are probably the most important aspect of any ensemble when it comes to passing listens, everything else comes after. Though I now have an appreciation for her voice, it took me a while to get there. At the time of this recording, Pittracher was vocally young, and though her tone is a softer, more delicate one, she also had a certain tinniness and nasal-ness that is hard to access, in that regard her voice more closely resembles that of Monika Pedersen (you know, that singer who was part of Sirenia for a year before completely disappearing from the metal scene). But, over time, Alexandra did win me over with her charisma and charm, not to mention that these vocal melodies are real ear-wormers.

Musically, Darkwell's first full-length effort is very strong. It's melodic, but heavy; atmospheric and catchy. Though maybe a tad formulaic - mid-paced, minor-keyed, 4 - 5 minute songs - the music is tightly composed. With a large focus on the guitars and riffs, simple, yet moving rhythms, and using conservative and simple keyboard melodies to add flair and back the vocals, Darkwell manages to maintain a grittiness in their tone that meshes well with their gothic mysticism. The band does well to never go overboard with their "orchestrations", which is smart, because they clearly didn't have the means to go full-on symphonic, Latin chanting a la Tristania's 'World of Glass'. Some of their keyboards do sound a bit cheesy, and keeping those aspects of the music on the minimal side keeps the album sounding more timeless than not.

However, one thing that does come out cheesy, and I can't imagine it ever not being cheesy, are the spoken vocals supplied by keyboardist Christian Filip - though Alexandra does have a line or two here and there. The spoken parts are just not well incorporated into the music, and don't really fit in. It doesn't help that Darkwell is not one of those bands whose lyricism is meant to impact the listener in any lasting way. The lyrics are pretty by-the-books, the songs are more about concepts of darkness than the popular romanticism of the mid nineties, and are good for what they are, but are a bit over the top when clumsily spoken right into your ear. If everything else about this album wasn't so well constructed, they could've taken me right out of music, but for the most part, they go forgiven.

'Suspiria' is just an all-together captivating album. I don't know what it is, but something about the the combination of dirty sounding guitars, pounding rhythms, atmosphere oriented keyboards, and the light melancholy vocals, paired with the album's cover art that makes me think of those history documentaries on Dark-Ages Europe. It's a very odd feeling, but a very satisfying listen. And with the band currently reformed with their original vocalist, and recently having released new material, I wish the band well, and hope for many years of Darkwell albums to come.

Highlights: Pictures of Strive, Two Souls Creature: The Salvation, & Realm of Darkness

Darkwell was not always an uninspired clone of other metal bands with a female lead vocalist. There was a time when Darkwell had the potential to become something great in the gothic metal scene, and it was at the time of their debut album Suspiria.

Suspiria employs all the elements of gloomy, gothic metal: slow, chugging guitars, death-inspired lyrics, steady drum beats, and atmospheric keyboards, but despite following the tried and true style of many previous bands in the genre, Darkwell's Suspiria is surprisingly refreshing and a pleasure to listen to while in the mood for a gothic atmosphere.

The prime factor in what makes Suspiria stand out is the lead vocalist for the album, Alexandra Pittracher. Her delicate yet wonderfully pleasant voice provides a nice contrast to the dark melodies provided by the low bass and guitars as well as the low-pitched clean vocals sung by the band's keyboardist. It is such a shame that Darkwell dropped her for the highly inferior Stephanie Luzie on their latest album, Metat[r]on, because Alexandra's vocals are largely what made Darkwell so pleasant to the ears.

With that said, the vocals are not the only good aspect about the album. It is quite apparent that every musician for Darkwell's Suspiria has a strong musical ear and is highly skilled on their instrument. The drumming and keyboard work are particularly good and those who doubt Alexandra's skill as a singer need only listen to the track "Ladies' Choice". There is not a single lackluster track on this album, though particularly noteworthy songs are "Pictures of Strive", "Armageddon", "Realm of Darkness", and their adaptation of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem "Suspiria".

Suspiria is an album that is recommended only for the fans of the gothic metal genre as the generally slow pace (though there are some speedy intervals thrown in) and gloomy atmosphere pervades the entire album. With that said, Suspiria is without a doubt Darkwell's best work and it can contend with the best in the genre. Avoid Darkwell's second full-length, Metat[r]on, and just listen to this. After replacing Alexandra Pittracher and their keyboardist/backing vocalist, they do not resemble the same band anyway.

Let's be frank: I consider gothic metal to be a phase, at least for myself. When an angsty teen, I lapped it all up eagerly: the emotion, the bombasm, the escapistic atmosphere. Now I see why it all appealed so much to me, and others of impressionable age, and I look upon it, as do so many old people on the follies of youth in general (for the record I'm 28 :).

That said, I admit I still listen to the stuff I have, semi-regularly, and with pleasure. I still like bombastic atmospheric metal, I'm still a sucker for escapism (even though I now see through many of the tropes), and I'll simply flick off the part of my brain that cringes at bad (teenage) metaphors for 'Darkness'.

And there you have part of my justification for liking Darkwell's Suspiria.

My introduction to Darkwell was a song on a compilation-album: Realm of Darkness. Slow build-up, synths for the main melody and the bridges, guitars mainly for texture. All this sautéd in a semi-operatic (but thinnish) female voice singing the darkness of her existence. Basically it's as full of gothic clichés as the Transformers movie was full of racism. However, instead of a harsh male grunter, they have this guy that..just speaks his parts. In the most hilarious deadpan delivery EVER. "This re-yalm of darkness. This...is her re-ward."

And that's the other part of my justification for liking Darkwell: sometimes it's so bad it's lovely and cute again. You shouldn't be reading my reviews and take them as anything other than my highly personal experiences, but an awful english mistake in the title of the first track alone? Love it. Sometimes the lyrics are so unintelligible because of their english that they seem deep and potentially profound.

On the other hand I genuinely love Stephanie Luzie's voice; it might seem flat, but her vocal melodies are subtle, and her warm, soft-edged voice (I'd classify it as the soubrette-subtype of soprano based on the wikipedia description) soothes me. That I grin stupidly at the sillyness of the dude's occasional 'singing' doesn't detract from that for me. And the fact that the rest of the music might not be anything more than typical (Central-)European gothic metal with long build-ups and hilariously bad lyrics makes this a *guilty* pleasure for me.

I registered specifically to review this album and defend it's honor. This album shares my all time favorite status with World Of Glass by Tristania, and that should give you a hint to my tastes. Suspiria is as gothic as metal gets. The sound is dark, baroque, and moving with a power behind it that could rival Amon Amarth for it's rousing qualities.

Suspiria begins with two tracks showcasing the sound: Operatic vocals, with a deep death metal backdrop too intense to be called doom metal, and catchy as Wagner's finest. Ladies Choice offers a harpsichord and more somber track, and then the album enters a 4 track mini-opera. This segment, despite some great riffs and clever portions, allows the lyrics and recitative to enter hokey realms, and rob the work of it's 100th percentage point in this review. But then the title track and it's classical organ steal it back and begin the trio of songs that make this thing worth buying and listening to over and over. Suspiria is good, but 'Realm of Darkness' is without question my favorite song of all time. It is 'Ride of the Valkyries' for metalheads. It is the song that snapped me out of my pre-metal daze and introduced me to the glory that is this genre. You can find this song on their official sites- hear it and know all you need to know about this album, this band, and the power that music holds. As if that were not enough the final track is close behind in quality and strength.

Make no mistake- this is gothic with a capital G. It's so gothic it pushed my purely gothic tastes. But the quality, the depth, and ability of every theme and leitmotif to catch the listener's attention and hold it to the end justifies every excess of tone. It is dark, it is sad, and it it above all strong. If you want hard and fast and crazy and brutal, look elsewhere. If you want beauty in shadows, or even just another pre-millenial Theatre of Tragedy / early Tristania sort of disc, you can do no better than this.