Album Review: Delain - Apocalypse & Chill

I understand that at times it looks like the world around us is crumbling. Civility is at a low-point for our lifetimes, the fabric of democracy around the world is being stretched to its limits, and there isn't exactly much in the news to give us hope. But with that being the case, I don't see why there is so much dystopian entertainment out there. Maybe it seems timely, but who wants to look into an even bleaker future when things are already looking bleak in reality? Entertainment should be our escape, not a means to make us feel even worse.

And so we come to the new Delain album, a self-billed 'dystopian masterpiece', which is centered on human darkness and elements of inhuman synth-metal. Before we get into the music itself, I'll be honest and say the approach and themes Delain has picked are not what I want to hear at this particular time. Maybe you do.

With this record, Delain's sound becomes more modern, and perhaps heavier. The riffs chug along with low-tuned rhythms, which sound a bit too low for Charlotte Wessel's vocal range. Her tone is soft and sweet, and she floats a bit too far above the rest of the band. There's a disparity between the guitars and her voice that never quite gets sorted out. It sounds to my ear like the band either needed to tune up a bit to fit her voice more, or she needed to sing with more power. As it is, her gently layered vocals in the choruses of songs like "We Had Everything" as a bit too fluffy, a bit too disposable.

There have been a lot of bands in the last year or two who have taken a similar tact with their music, which makes Delain's shift in style feel more calculated than it might have actually been, but it also gives them a lot of competition in this space. Actually, we only have to look back a few weeks to see Temperance's "Viridian", which similarly doubled down on modernity at the expense of the more melodic and grandiose musical backdrops they used to have. The approach is the same, but the difference is that Temperance brought huge hooks to every song, while Delain isn't able to inject the necessary pop elements to make this sound sparkle. Without melody in the music, the vocal lines are even more important, and I just don't feel like Wessels delivers enough great ones.

My own personal dystopian hell is one where music exists without melody. We've been inching in that direction, especially in the pop world, but metal is following suit as bands like Delain keep moving to a far more rhythmic approach. "Apocalypse & Chill" is the sort of album that's fine to listen to, but soon after you realize most of it has gone in one ear and out the other. For trying to be big and bombastic, the end result is surprisingly tame and forgettable. Perhaps the 'chill' part of the title comes through a bit too much.

There's nothing really wrong with this record, but when I just heard a better version of it a couple of weeks ago, I'm not going to get excited. Delain gets respect for trying something new, but this version of their sound didn't really click with me. For what they're going for, I'd say go listen to Temperance instead.