Back in 2019 I was scrolling through Facebook when I saw Jacob Hansen‘s post (superb producer, singer, guitar player) about a song that he had mixed and mastered from an upcoming band called Scarlet Desire. I proceeded to check it out and I was left delighted so I wrote a little article about it.
The band is just starting out so they are releasing singles only with a plan of releasing an album probably later this year (2021) and now has come the time for their second single “Maiden of Snow“. The song kicks ass like its predecessor this time with the lyrics focused on Finnish mythology sometimes sung ( I swear I heard Tarja singing the part “Vasara spake!”), sometimes spoken through the voice of the wonderful Danae. Starting with a beautiful piece of orchestration, the instruments make their appearance creating an atmosphere of grandeur only to evolve to a simil melodeath tune in which Danae brings out her operatic vocal style. For the pre chorus and chorus, the Epica cadence that was present on their first single ” Cry for Your Name” comes back to invite you to close your eyes and swing to the melody. The mix of vocal styles that appear during the second half of the song add shades of melody and timbre that enrich the vocal side of the song. Danae uses her fabulous chest voice, her operatic voice, her talking voice while Heikki Pöyhiä adds high an low growls to the concoction. It’s an understatement to say that none of these vocals would have effect without the talented vision and crafting of Esa Mikkola‘s mastermind. A fabulous song for one my favourite new symphonic bands at the moment.
Oh, the surprise, when once again scrolling through Facebook like a month ago, I came across a new Sweden based band that was presenting Danae Komodromou as their lead singer. The band was called Vengeant and featured Sweden’s young promise Christoffer Holm as the mastermind. (https://ladyobscure.com/qa-with-christopher)
I was really surprised by the approach of the song because given by the cover art of the single and the name of the band I thought it was going to be more classic Power Metal oriented. The song although resides in power metal, has more of an heavier edge that comes from small dashes of melodeath vibes in some passages and from the simple and effective heavy riffs of the intro and the verses. The use of orchestration is purely decorative and does not take the spotlight at any moment. Danae here uses her operatic voice for the chorus which is more power metal stile but for the chuggy verses she uses a more aggressive approach using her head voice in a manner similar to the force of nature that is Floor Jansen.
Two bands, one singer. Both bands are giving their first steps and they sound very promising so I am really looking forward to what comes next
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