At the beginning of 2024, Ember Belladonna released her debut full length album ‘The Grove’. It was an undeniably smart collection of tunes, mixing elements of goth, metal and folk, showcasing great flute work. Taking the flute beyond its usual prog rock space, Ember created a musical landscape of her own: sometimes dark but without feeling oppressive, but often otherworldly. The album presented songs that had a heart that could be easily orchestrated, but often felt very different – and more distinctive – than the several hundred Nightwish clones filling the globe.

As a piece of late promotion, here’s a video for the album’s closing number ‘The Unnamed’. An instrumental piece, it misses out on the performer’s light, clean vocals, which provide a great appeal throughout the record, but aside from that, this is a great advertisement for ‘The Grove’ as a whole. The drums and flute that power the intro capture Belladonna’s mix of melodic metal and folk perfectly, and the buoyant melody that plays throughout is very evocative of the fantasy themes which often provide the record’s lyrical content. The blending of new age aesthetics and metallic elements displayed here is also, perhaps, the album’s most balanced in terms of genre-bending, crossover styles.

Of ‘The Unnamed’, Ember Belladonna comments: “…‘The Grove’ was heavily inspired by folklore and mythology, but this particular song was brought to life through the characters from some of my favorite fantasy literature. I took inspiration from the characters who are magical and powerful, who drive the plotline but work from the shadows. Think Geralt of Rivia (The Witcher), Strider (Lord of the Rings) or Arya (The Inheritance Cycle). In short it is meant to be a fantasy adventure piece.”

Watch the video for ‘The Unnamed’ below. You can also stream the full album and read a full review here.