Review: Coburg – 'The Enchantress'

COBURG
'The Enchantress'
EVOLVE OR DIE RECORDS

Symphonic rock/metal is a tag that fills me with dread usually, but Coburg's debut offering 'The Enchantress' is a pleasant surprise. Owing more to Lacuna Coil than the pseudo-operatic styles that unfortunately accompany the symphonic tag these days, Coburg sees soaring melodic feminine vocals underpinned by powerful rock full of classical flirtations.

Featuring members of Naked Lunch and Jet Noir, the band already has a solid pedigree but with the overt classical meets gothic influences injected with the occasional nasty industrial synth the band shatters any pre-conceived notions and quickly establishes itself as a new force.

Songs such as 'A Cold Day In Hell', 'The Hall Of Ghosts', 'Thy Dagger', 'Till The Bitter End' and 'Rise' take the classical elements and run with them blending great gothic rock and emotive vocals for a commercially viable but still high-brow core. Whereas tracks such as 'Echoes In The Night', 'Into The Darkness', and 'The Enchantress' give the album a harder more energetic slant with the guitars on overdrive and the electronics getting a little more industrial. It might sound like there's two styles vying for supremacy, but they compliment each other rather nicely and create a nice sense of variety on the album.

In terms of production the album is as strong as any big label rock release. The vocals are nice and high to drive the songs forward, the electronics are balanced with the guitars throughout and the classical sounds don't sound cheap or dated. Instead it's powerful, bombastic and modern.

This is a very strong first album from a band that has an awful lot going for it. It's heavy, melodic, delicate, hard and always interesting. The band have a good grasp on their sound which remains unique in what has become a somewhat derivative genre in recent years. It will be interesting to see how they progress their sound on future releases. 

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Review: Jet Noir – 'A Cold Day In Hell'

JET NOIR
'A Cold Day In Hell'
EVOLVE OR DIE

If you're not familiar with Jet Noir you soon will be. The synth player for electro goth act Naked Lunch has struck out on her own this year with two previous singles 'The Scarlet Woman' and 'The Circle' which have created positive rumblings. With an EP round the corner Noir has released a third single showing off her mix of progressive gothic rock and trance in the form of 'A Cold Day In Hell'.

Whereas the previous two singles showcased a decidedly more electronic leaning, 'A Cold Day In Hell' is an exercise in big gothic rock. Throbbing bass, subtle electronics, heavy guitars and the ever present sensual vocals come together to create a powerful combination that flips expectations around. It displays strong blends of melody, atmosphere and arrangements that hint at a lot more to come.

The single is completed by three remixes from Attrition, Dean Baker (Cloak) and Ruinizer who all add aq different spin to the original with ease. Attrition add a nice old school darkwave veneer to it that is wonderfully addictive. Dean Baker delves into ebm and trance territory which ups its dance appeal. Finally Ruinizer knock it into leftfield with a deconstructed blend of aggrotech and urban appeal.

The production is strong and walks the line between a classic gothic atmosphere and modern sheen. It is a combination that works really well and is able to switch between sultry and scathing with ease.

'A Cold Day In Hell' is perhaps the most exciting single so far from Jet Noir. It's blend of genres, progressive elements and atmospher is executed perfectly. The song is strong throughout showing great writing and performance and it should hopefully have a lot of people sit up and take notice.

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