Tag Archives: symphonic metal

EMBER BELLADONNA – The Grove

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The flute has often been a pivotal instrument within prog rock – Jethro Tull have much to answer for, but other bands like Focus and Tempest were never shy of making the instrument a core part of their arrangements – but its gentle sounds aren’t always associated with metal. In that regard, flautist Ember Belladonna’s debut album fills an important gap in the market. Its eight songs dart between different styles – from flawless new age sounds, to deep gothic grooves, to riff driven jigs – but Ember’s deft playing holds everything together with ease, and presents a classic tone that would be just as home on more of a classical oriented outing.

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EXIT EDEN – Femmes Fatales

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In 2017, Phantom Elite’s Marina La Torraca, League of Distortion’s Anna Brunner, Trillium’s Amanda Somerville and Clémentine Delauney pooled their collective vocal talents to create Exit Eden, a symphonic metal supergroup which aimed to bring a very theatrical slant to several rock and pop classics. Their ‘Rhapsodies In Black’ album – released that same year – showed how brilliantly 80s tunes like Visage’s ‘Fade To Grey’ and ‘Heaven’ by Bryan Adams would work when reworked in a Nightwish-esque mould. The project’s real magic came through, however, when the performers and their assembled session band put a heavier slant on (then) more contemporary pop material like Katy Perry’s brilliant ‘Firework’ and Lady Gaga’s ‘Paparazzi’.

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THE REAL GONE SINGLES BAR #16

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Welcome back to the Real Gone Singles Bar, the place where we explore the various individual mp3s that have landed in our inbox over the previous few weeks. It’s a place that is not concerned with genre; it can also lead to unexpected finds. It’s somewhere we celebrate stuff we’ve enjoyed, regardless of any usual listening preferences, or visitors’ expectations from our website. The “mixed bag” approach keeps it as interesting for us as it does for you! This week, we bring you some great alternative pop, some timeless sounding Aussie rock, the return of Roisin McCarney, a well loved track re-imagined, and more besides. If you find anything here you’ve enjoyed, please drop by and tell us. Also, if you think you have a new track that would have a place at the Singles Bar in future, please get in touch. We’d love to hear from you.

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ETERNAL IDOL – Renaissance

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Following a tour in 2017, symphonic metal band Eternal Idol found themselves in a severely depleted state after both their vocalist and drummer quit the band. With almost half of their members gone and given that replacing a vocalist can be especially difficult, some would say it was time to call it a day. The rest of Eternal Idol had other ideas, and in the autumn of 2020 they re-emerged bigger and better than ever.

Bringing in the talents of Rhapsody vocalist Fabio Lione, Hell In The Club bassist Andrea “Andy” Buratto and Serenade vocalist Claudia Layline, the new look Eternal Idol could be seen as a supergroup of sorts. Although a drastically different line up could’ve put them on the back foot, their second full length album ‘Renaissance’ is hugely confident.

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THE MURDER OF MY SWEET – Brave Tin World

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In 2015, The Murder of My Sweet released a terrible concept album called ‘Beth Out of Hell‘ which their record company likened to ELO and Queen. A brave but foolish claim: in reality, the album sounded a fourth rate Nightwish and it’s hard to imagine even the most staunch Euro metal fan would’ve enjoyed such a charmless, generic set of songs. Its follow up, 2017’s ‘Echoes of The Aftermath‘, was much better in that it actually gave a concession to some more melodic material, but even so, it still wasn’t the kind of record that would set the world alight. None of the band’s shortcomings lay with singer Angelica Rylin. She has a great voice, and as demonstrated on her solo album from 2013, she’s capable of using it far better than The Murder of My Sweet’s general bombast ever seemed to allow.

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