The Dutch metal band known as Autumn have released their latest album, Altitude. The female fronted group from The Netherlands have a very unique sound that can best be described as atmospheric rock with a symphonic component attached to it. The album itself is a very melodic and aggressive one that really strikes you the first time you hear it.
The album starts off with "Paradise Nox", a melodic and gritty number with lead singer Marjan Welman's powerful vocals taking charge of the song and allowing it to make a lasting impact on the listener. "Liquid Under Film Noir" is a slightly more aggressive tune that has a toned down outro, making it for a perfect divide between mid-tempo and high energy sound that makes the song standout from all the others on the album. "Skydancer" is an elegant and atmospheric tune that is another example of Marjan's prominent vocals that give this song a life of its own and gives it its own identity in a way.
As the album rolls along, we hear "Synchro-Minds", an acoustic based tune that shows the softer side of the band with its simple instrumentation and pleasant sounding melodies that show the wide range of music the band is capable of creating. "A Minor Dance" is a cryptic and mystical track that has elements of piano mixed in with heavy guitars to give the song its own unique drive and sense of purpose. My favorite track off the album is "Cascade (For A Day)", a melodic and powerful number that has wonderful instrumentation throughout and gritty guitars putting that extra spark there to light here on this track. "Horizon Line" is another stellar track that continues on its musical mission to deliver quality music that the masses will appreciate immediately upon listening to it.
As the album closes out, we hear "Answers Never Questioned", a mid-tempo track that does a great job of starting to close out the album on a low-key scale and without a overwhelmingly loud track that would have otherwise diluted the musical quality of the album to a great degree. The album's title track ties all the elements of the album together in one song that gives the listener a blend of all the distinct harmonies that we heard on the album and gives the listener who might not be familiar with this band (including myself) an idea of what to expect on this album. There have been a few female fronted rock bands that have attained a great deal of popularity recently such as Evanescence and Paramore, while Autumn are still a ways off from attaining that star status, this album does provide some hope for the future that they will be recognized by many more fans and will finally appear on the musical radar that so many artists aspire to appear on.
All together, a solid and cohesive effort that is a great example of the symphonic metal sound that has a very low-level audience. While this is not a genre of music that I regularly listen to, it was a worthwhile listening experience and an enjoyable one in that it gave me a broader sense of the musical spectrum and all that it has to offer.
Album Score: 4/5
Track Listing:
- Paradise Nox
- Liquid Under Film Noir
- Skydancer
- Synchro-Minds
- The Heart Demands
- A Minor Dance
- Cascade (For A Day)
- Horizon Line
- Sulphur Rodents
- Answers Never Questioned
- Altitude
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