Band : Delain

Album Title : April Rain

Label : Roadrunner Records

Distributor : CNR – Concreteweb Promotion Office.

Release Date : 20/03/2009

Release : CD

This is the very important second album of the Dutch band Delain. After their brilliant debut album “Lucidity” the expectations for this follow up were very high. They stayed with their own style and didn’t changed anything on their sound. “April Rain” starts off fiercely after a nice intro with pounding rhythms and strong melodies. The whole album is packed with a bombastic sound created by the band and their first lady and vocalist Charlotte Wessels. Her voice sounds more convincing as before and is a beautiful mixture of dramatic and operatic vocals.. Delain also invited two guests on this new album. For the second time you have Marko Hietala of Nightwish and for the first time you got cello player Maria Ahn who adds a more contemporary atmosphere. The band surely lives up to the promise of their debut album. The best tracks on this new album are definitely the title track “April Rain” and the very Led Zeppelin inspired track “Start Swimming”. It’s once again a solid dark gothic metal record that shows that this band still have potential to grow even further.

82/100

Guido Claes.