Review: Whyzdom “Blind?” (2012)

Reviewed by Sagiv Shaniv

Artist: Whyzdom
Album: Blind?
Label: Scarlet Records
Release Date: October 30th 2012

Tracklist:

1. The Lighthouse
2. Dancing With Lucifer
3. Cassandra’s Mirror
4. On the Road to Babylon
5. Paper Princess
6. The Spider
7. The Wolves
8. Venom And Frustration
9. Lonely Roads
10. The Foreseer
11. Cathedral of the Damned

A few years ago, when I heard Nightwish for the first time, the first thought that came to my mind was “Wow! Symphonic music with metal music? Is that possible??” After learning some more of this genre I found out that it’s become one of my favourite metal genres, for the power and the intelligence that make it what it is.
Whyzdom are a French symphonic metal act (Frankly, in the first place it sounded like a traditional polish name to me, perhaps for my familial origins), and this is their second LP.
For me the album is a fresh and fine piece of symphonic metal, made of traditional technical riffs and double-bass drums with a fusion, as usually, of melodic (occasionally quite emotional) keyboards and mumbling choirs (If anyone understands the words spoken in this parts, I salute them) in the back. The one to command it all with her magnificent voice is Elvyne Lorient, the band’s new singer; her voice feels like a blend of Epica’s redhead (Simone) and Nightwish’s original brunette (Tarja) to me.
I heard nearly nothing new in the album, but yet it was a gladdening experience to hear some modern symphonic metal being played so well with such talents. The guitar works are very tight with rather heavy sound and the keyboards are felt, but not all along the songs; many times it is overwhelmed by the orchestra and the guitars. The bass works are unfelt most of the time (bass, you know…) but when they are it is a fiesta to the ears! Every note hits just where it should, and the short bass-led bridges can make a whole difference in a section of a song, greatly upgrading it with a fine touch of the low clef.
I must commend the C part in the first track “The Lighthouse”, with its creepy bass track and wonderful orchestration that goes right into a well written and performed guitar solo. The main riff is another thing that is not common to hear, with the guitar taken to the back in the process of production.

The album is very long, with 77:33 minutes in length. I felt that the playing time is a weak point of it, for no matter how good a song or a riff is if it goes for too long it will vex the listener.
Yet still, I consider this release an excellent album, one I can imagine being played and replayed on my personal playlist. The tight production, that one can feel its lack of compromising in every part of a song, is a great plus for the album. Go get it!

9/10

Band Members:

Nico Chaumeaux – Drums
Régis Morin – Guitars
Vynce Leff – Guitars Orchestration
Marc Ruhlmann – Keyboards
Xavier Corrientes – Bass
Elvyne Lorient – Vocals

http://www.facebook.com/WHYZDOMproject
http://www.whyzdom.fr/