The 4th Nightingale

Gandillion is an experienced band combining elements of Progressive Rock and Metal with Symphonic elements. The band was formed in 1996 and released a number of demos before releasing their debut album “Perrenette Gandillion” in 1999. An album which I consider a true gem. Seeing the years went by without any new releases, I had given up hope of any new material coming out to be honest. So I must say I was pleasantly surprised when I stumbled upon the news of the release of Gandillion’s new album “The 4th Nightingale”.

Some things have changed over the years. Most notable being the change of vocalist, with Joyce Dijkgraaf (ex Elleanore, a promising Symphonic Metal band with dissolved way to early) replacing Femke Feenstra’s spot behind the mic. But luckily, the changes have not affected the quality of the music on display.

“The 4th Nightingale” is a concept album, following the life of a nightingale from birth to death. Now I’m not particularly fond of birds (I own a cat to prove it…). No seriously, this is quite a refreshing idea. Most concept albums deal with either heavy subjects like religion or dramatic historic events or bombastic fantasy themes. Gandillion proves that a simple subject can lead to enough inspiration to write an album full of songs.

Gandillion makes music that is highly symphonic and melodic and is certainly not pure metal. I read somewhere that they like to describe their style as sitting somewhere in between Marillion, Porcupine Tree and Pain Of Salvation, which gives you a rough idea of what to expect (except for a female on vocals off course). The album starts off very calm, with the emphasis on acoustic and melodic guitar melodies, symphonic keyboard and piano and excellent vocals. Metal elements do make an appearance, but most of the songs on the first part of the album can not be classified as all out metal tracks. The metal that is present is mostly used to emphasize dramatic events in the birds life and are really effective, because of the contrast with the generally calm progressive rock songs. Starting with Child Among Children, the band shifts to a more aggressive approach, with the following track “Underground”, being the first all out progressive metal song, even featuring some rough male vocals. Thanks to excellent musicianship and song-writing, the band succeeds in delivering both excellent Prog Rock and Prog Metal songs, making this album one of my favorites of 2008.

I would also like to complement new record label PMM Records for their nose for talent (also see my review for Symphonic Power Metal band Android Soul, which is also signed to PMM) and the excellent work on the artwork and packaging, which both band and label did an excellent job on.

Fans of progressive and symphonic Rock and Metal should give Gandillion a try. The band definitely deserves the attention.