Godyva - Alien Heart

Godyva
Alien Heart
Southern Brigade Records
2013
6
These Italian goth-metalers are back with their third full-length album. Once again you will be allured by Lady Godyva’s amazing performances. Her expressive & beautiful voice is the first thing that will strike you the moment you listen to this band. I also think they have matured somehow in comparison to their previous works. Probably the new guitarist G.G. Gohm (ex-Warchild) has given them that extra boost they needed.
 
Godyva are influenced by acts like: Evanescence, Within Temptation, We are the Fallen, Elysion and so forth. They do have their symphonic passages but they should be tagged under the gothic metal genre and not into the symphonic one. Anyhow, that matters the least. “Alien Heart” has a very tight and loud production. I do like it but I think that they have gone over the top (now and again) with the compression in the mastering process. After Lady’s wonderful vocals, the truly heavy guitar riffing comes. Those are the two more appealing things of the album. Likewise, the first half of the CD is stronger than the other half… or just closer to my liking.
 
The cover of the 80s pop hit “I Feel You (Ti Sento)” by Matia Bazar, is simply incredible. The guys have given a different –heavier – substance to the song and made it sound great. The opener “Apocalypse Fie” gives you a positive idea of what’s about to happen next, the emotive ballad “In Your Eyes” could have made a sensational video (I hope they make one), “My Earliest Memories” nicely blends heavy & atmospheric features but one the other hand, “Everything is Over” is totally dreadful. Those hip-hop/rap vocals make it so f@ckin’ intolerable to stand. They were very wrong here. They should have sent this track to the recycle bin right away. To sum up, “Alien Heart” is a solid goth metal album, even though the band can mind a few minor things and come up with a stronger album next time…