Album Review: Anette Olzon - Rapture

Sometimes, reviews pain me to have to write. It's never fun when something you've been looking forward to disappoints you, and it isn't made much easier when you know what's coming. Anette Olzon is one of my favorite voices. Her unique tone is captivating, and between her work with Alyson Avenue, The Dark Element, and the Allen/Olzon project, she's been on some of the best melodically heavy music I've heard. My hopes and always high when she's going to release something, but these solo albums of hers aren't much fun for me.

With her voice, and with Magnus Karlsson once again writing the songs, this should be a record that turns around what has been a difficult time for my mood. That would not be the case, however, as this record follows suit from her previous solo album. For reasons I don't entirely understand, these songs feature bursts of harsh vocals, and the least hooky melodies on any of Magnus' current projects. Anette's voice is beautiful and soaring, and she's given very flat songs that don't play to her strengths.

Also not helping matters is the mix, where Anette's voice is not put front-and-center. She fades into the guitars far too often, and considering this is her solo album that should be focused on her, it's an inexcusable decision in the mixing process. Everyone involved here are highly respected, so I'm at a loss how Anette is not positioned as the star of her own album.

You get everything you need to know from the opener, "Heed The Call". You get a decent chorus where Anette doesn't pierce through the clamor, but also multiple sections of barked vocals that don't add to the melody, and even a quick interlude of a child singing. It's all bizarre, and tells us this is not going to be a record focused on delivering great hooks and melodic metal bliss. They are trying to 'experiment', and we all know you can't possibly win every time you try something different. Of course, let's aslo be honest here; the claim they are playing with various genres is a bit ridiculous. These are the same songs Magnus has always been writing, just with a growl here or there, or an extra keyboard.

What I can say in this record's favor is that it comes across better than "Strong" did. Whereas that record felt almost oppressive at times, and few of the hooks landed at all, this record is better at balancing the heavier and harsher elements with Anette and Magnus' traditional melody. These songs would still be better without any of the extraneous bits, but at least the core hooks are better this time around.

This is one of those cases where we need to draw the distinction between 'bad' and 'disappointing'. "Rapture" is a decent album. I don't hate it by any means. I can put it on and have a nice enough time listening to Anette doing her thing. "Rapture" is, however, quite a disappointing album. I know what Anette and Magnus are capable of, and this is not at the top of the list. Both of the albums she has done paired with Russell Allen are better, as are both of the albums she has done with The Dark Element, and none of those touch the one classic Alyson Avenue album. Even her first more pop-oriented solo album, which set her renaissance in motion, had one absolutely killer song in "Falling", which is more than "Rapture" can boast.

Having set high expectations is a blessing and a curse. It means I adore many of Anette's previous works, but it also means I'm not going to settle for second best. Unfortunately, "Rapture" is just far enough removed from what I want to hear from Anette it tends to feel that way. Good things can still make you sad, and a tinge of that is what I take away most from "Rapture".