Selene
The Forgotten
Independent Release
2015
Selene are a quartet from Northern Ireland that has been a going concern for a few years now releasing a couple of digital EPs and singles in the past and now they are about to issue their full length debut. They claim to be Symphonic Metal that should satisfy the fans of Sonata Arctica & Nightwish, but they sound to my ears more like a crossover of mid-era Epica with early Leave’s Eyes… they are hardly power/symphonic metal, but mostly rely on mid-tempo guitar/keyboard driven compositions to get their ideas across.
Their singer, Shonagh Lyons, tries too hard to go for a classical approach on songs that seem to require both additional power and would benefit from a more straightforward delivery. She’s not bad, but it’s clear that she lacks in experience ending up to sound not nearly as good as some of the ladies who have become a focal point for the given sub-genre. She reminds me in a way the vocalist of some Austrian goth/black band, Lisa something or other, but I cannot really remember just now...
The fact that a touring member of the band’s that Tim Owens is in the band is hardly something I’d stress out, but the rather poor and plastic sound of the drums is something that does stand out in a bad way. The band is not too bad since songs like “Paradise Over”, “Fade Away”, the softer “Sweetest Dreams” or the sweeping “Blind” show enough promise… the nine minute finale “Piano Black” starts in a promising way and manages to not collapse under its own ambition, but could have been a little more compact, I suppose. A promising newcomer band, which should work harder and make sure their production gets a bit tighter, next time…
Their singer, Shonagh Lyons, tries too hard to go for a classical approach on songs that seem to require both additional power and would benefit from a more straightforward delivery. She’s not bad, but it’s clear that she lacks in experience ending up to sound not nearly as good as some of the ladies who have become a focal point for the given sub-genre. She reminds me in a way the vocalist of some Austrian goth/black band, Lisa something or other, but I cannot really remember just now...
The fact that a touring member of the band’s that Tim Owens is in the band is hardly something I’d stress out, but the rather poor and plastic sound of the drums is something that does stand out in a bad way. The band is not too bad since songs like “Paradise Over”, “Fade Away”, the softer “Sweetest Dreams” or the sweeping “Blind” show enough promise… the nine minute finale “Piano Black” starts in a promising way and manages to not collapse under its own ambition, but could have been a little more compact, I suppose. A promising newcomer band, which should work harder and make sure their production gets a bit tighter, next time…