Catharsis

Edible underwear as a catalyst for stimulating a sexual encounter may seem kinky and kind of fun in theory, but in actual practice it's extremely uncomfortable and tastes like shit and stale licorice (trust me). This Lyria album, Catharsis, is similar in design, but in reverse. I was salivating over the cover and their female singer is quite the looker, but unlike the utilization of edible underwear, it's the cover in which lies the good stuff, and the contents within that's a misguided turn-off.

This South American gang may be deemed a symphonic metal band, as there's plenty of keyboards draping over all these grooves and simplistic riffs, but in actuality it resonates more like quasi-gothic metal with some nu-metal tendencies. Listening to this album reminded me more of what Lacuna Coil has been dishing out for the past decade than Nightwish or Xandria, and the sound is less polished and the performances looser. The recording feels rushed, with some rhythmic sloppiness scattered about, but that's not the real crime with this effort. I don't mind a bit of clumsiness if the compositions are well written and the singer has an appealing voice. Needless to say, the lack of those two qualities really makes this album an unenviable challenge, like eating sweaty, wedgied edible underwear.

Aline Happ is technically not a bad singer at all. Her vibrato doesn't feel forced and unlike her bandmates she doesn't hit bum-notes, but her tone is an issue with me. I can't stand it. A mostly head-voiced, flighty delivery, her style lingers somewhere between pop and operatic, and there's just enough of a nasal timbre to irritate my ears. It's like having some angel constantly nagging at me. Fuck man, I listen to music in the car just to get away from that jive. She’s similar to a slightly poppier sounding Simone Simons, who I’m also not really a fan of, but whom I do concede as possessing talent. Her vocal melodies, while sometimes showcasing her range, are not particularly inspiring either. That's not really her fault though, as most of these songs are just boring mid-paced plodders with generic, predictable chord progressions and reliance on simple chugging. The only positive asset concerning the music that separates this releases from most of the European equivalents are the guitar solos. The fact that they exist at all is almost an anomaly for this kind of crap these days, and these solos are actually pretty good. I can sense some actual heart and emotion put into them, and the chops are righteous without being total shred-fests.

So there's that: good guitar solos and a frontwoman who looks attractive. The guitar bears a heavy tone as well, and the bass is audible. Those are the positives. I wouldn't even be able to offer any recommendations for improvement to their sound since I was expecting something more symphonic and less nu-goth. I did find "What Do You Want from Me?" to be pretty catchy with a good chorus, but nothing else has really stuck after numerous listens. And now that I'm finally jotting this review down, I can't picture myself spinning this again, but I really should visit Rio de Janeiro someday.