DELAIN has always had a knack for writing symphonic metal with a strong Gothic metal vibe, which made them stand out from the crowd. When I first started listening to them back in the early 2010s with “April Rail” I couldn’t really put my finger on what was it that made their song harder to digest. Now, listening back to “The Human Contradiction” for its tenth anniversary, it’s quite clear to me how things stand and, thus, I can appreciate it better. The band’s fourth studio album came out on April 4th, 2014, in Europe and April 8th, 2014, in North America via Napalm Records.
In between Charlotte Wessels’ vocal delivery, the guest appearances from the likes of Marko Hietala, George Oosthoek, and Alissa White-Gluz, and the tight performances from the rest of the band, this album is a great showcase of what DELAIN was (and still is) all about. That’s not to say it’s the Dutch unit’s best album, that is still “April Rain” (2009), but it is one of their more focused and streamlined outings (on par with their latest release, “Dark Waters”). From lengthy opener “Here Come the Vultures” all the way to the closer “The Tragedy of the Commons,” the album flows through many different moods and soundscapes that are all tied together by a beautiful Gothic aura. DELAIN were pretty much playing to their strengths here and the results speak for themselves. “Starlight” still feels as fresh and vibrant as the day it got released as a single, “Sing to Me” is just as hauntingly beautiful with Marko and Charlotte weaving their voices together around a melancholy melody, while “Army of Dolls,” with its clear message about beauty and the objectification of the female body, and “The Tragedy of the Commons,” which tackles the issues of pollution and the environment, are probably even more poignant today than they were ten years ago.
With a title as enigmatic as “The Human Contradiction” and lyrical themes regarding humans and their struggles and problems, this is not just a musical journey but a philosophical one as well (much like their previous album, “We Are the Others”). While this is a frequent occurrence on the metal scene, some of the songs on this album deserve more attention than they are getting. One such song that stands out more is “Tell Me, Mechanist,” which feels like an open letter to God about the ugly things happening down on Earth; the opening line – “Tell me, mechanist, is it true? / Does none of it bother you” – is enough to give me the chills and put things into perspective. Another one is “Your Body is a Battleground” which falls in line with “Army of Dolls” about society’s need for perfection, at the cost of people’s health.
Taking all of this into consideration, it isn’t a stretch to say that this is one of their darkest albums to date both lyrically and musically, as the guitars are much more in the forefront and the overall ambiance is more ominous and gloomy than on any other release, with most of that coming from the interplay between the main vocal line and the backing vocals and vocalizations/humming. Tracks like “My Masquerade” with its call-and-response melodic hook, “Here Come the Vultures” with its chanting chorus and humming, “The Tragedy of the Commons” with its whispered line “Kiss the world goodbye” and melancholy vocalizations are interesting case studies in how the voice can be used as an instrument to add depth and texture to the music, not unlike a sweeping violin or a keyboard. On the other hand, a track like “Lullaby” is interesting when it comes to the interplay of instrumentals and the vocals as the guitars are distorted and heavy while the vocals are soft and somber creating a nice contrast. This is quite a showcase for Charlotte Wessels and I haven’t even mentioned the contributions of the other two guests, George Oosthoek on “Tell Me, Mechanist” and Alissa White-Gluz on “The Tragedy of the Commons” but it should go without saying that they are both doing a bang up job with their respective parts.
All-in-all, “The Human Contradiction” is a strong album whose main merit is not just spotlighting Charlotte Wessels’s range and versatility as a singer but also cementing DELAIN’s place on the symphonic metal scene (much more than “We Are the Others” did) with nine well-crafted and well-produced songs. The fact that the album boasts variety in the soundscape and consistency in the songwriting is what ultimately made the band an important player on the European metal scene. Despite the gloom and doom of the lyrics, the songs are energetic and fun with a lot of dynamics in the vocal work that make the album sound fresh and exciting ten years after its release.
Written by Andrea Crow
Tracklist
- Here Come the Vultures
- Your Body is a Battleground
- Stardust
- My Masquerade
- Tell Me, Mechanist
- Sing to Me
- Army of Dolls
- Lullaby
- The Tragedy of the Commons
Lineup
- Charlotte Wessels – vocals
- Martijn Westerholt – keyboards
- Timo Somers – guitars
- Otto Schimmelpenninck van der Oije – bass
- Sander Zoer – drums
Label
Napalm Records
