Evenoire - I Will Stay
CD Info
2008
Independent Release
4 Tracks
English Lyrics
Symphonic gothic covers a lot of territory. As a musical form, it really takes its structure from the message conveyed as much as from the musical direction. In the case of the former, the message tends towards the dark side, the left hand path if you will. Of course, even with that understanding, the precise nature of the communication can take a variety of directions. On the truly dark side, we have bands that convey a direct message from the ethereal, witchcraft, for instance. Others, like Therion, tend to draw from the formal mystical directions, and directly from the literary works that describe those concepts. The music is also delivered from a variety of perspectives. It is, of course, metal at its core, you can generally expect some guitars, some drums, and some kind of symphonic component, usually delivered by a relatively sophisticated keyboard instrument. From there, however, there are a variety of paths for implementing a band’s sound, ranging from including a couple additional instruments to the utilization of a full symphony orchestra and formal choirs. And, of course, in this environment, we include the female vocals, which also range in style and capability. Naturally, some are better than others at both functions. Fortunately for us, there are a lot of real good ones in the female fronted realm.
Evenoire is one of the better sounds I’ve encountered, even if there isn’t a lot of material to judge them by, in fact, this late 2008 release is pretty much it. It’s a five peace Italian group, heavy on the symphonic and, occasionally, equally heavy on the operatic. Vocalist Elisa Stefanoni is a first class vox, strong in multiple musical skills and exhibiting a trained vocal capability to cover multiple musical styles ranging from rock to folk and full opera. She also demonstrates a first class capability with the flute, an instrument featured on the CD. Backing this talented front woman are Giada Delmiglio, another lovely Italian who provides the symphonic and related keyboard delivered sounds, Alex Gervasi on guitars, Marco Binotto on Bass and Daniele Foroni on Drums. The music ranges from a type of folk music to full symphonic operatic gothic, and the sound is spectacular. The band itself describes their music as, "La band nata nel 2006 suona un metal ricco di spunti ed influenze che vanno dal symphonic/gothic, al prog/doom, al medieval/folk, vicino a gruppi quali Therion, Within Temptation, After Forever, The Gathering, Blackmore’s Night." That shouldn’t be too hard to follow, even if your Italian is less than perfect.
Evenoire hasn’t been around all that long, their existence measures from 2006. They have had some significant success in their home country and have seen some seriously positive reviews in the music press in Europe. However, as of this date, they are without a label, an oversight that screams for review. I doubt that situation will last long; they’re just too good. The EP under review here was self-produced although something this good suggests they’ve received assistance from some pretty talented production and mixing people. I find it hard to believe something this good was put together in someone’s back yard garage, there has to be some top help involved.
I Will Stay begins with Azzurrina, a relatively gothic offering. There is the gothic bell, the ethereal backing and a haunting spoken introduction by lead singer Elisa. The song relates to the witch with a dark message delivered with a voice to match. The lyrics don’t tend to read as strongly as they come across in the song, I guess the voice is just that good. The song goes from dark and gloomy to metal in an instant, and the guitar work over the keyboards are pure European Gothic metal in its truest form. The metal soon gives way to the flute and Elisa is as strong with that instrument as she is with the vocals. She soon returns to the vocals singing:
Storm covered the sky
your shout killed the light
your red rag ball was rolling
into the dark room fallen
clouds cried on the castle with your eyes
no more they found you
There’s a heavy dose of the symphonic at the end of the song, and Elisa goes into full opera. It’s almost like a second singer, a perfect close to the song.
The second title is Mirror Lies. It’s a little more folk like, especially in the intro. But there is a metal feel that picks up and moves back and forth with the lighter sections. Again, Elisa’s voice goes from one direction to the next as the song progresses, a truly interesting capability. Keyboards take some different directions as well and the guitars are largely held in check, with certain exceptions.
The third title is Aries and it is a return to the Gothic. The guitars and drums take front stage as Elisa takes us to a darker side of her repertoire. The flute returns to fine effect and the band goes heavy. Again, it’s hard to believe there is just one vocalist, Elisa has too many styles and she goes back and forth effortlessly. The range is another capability that must be heard to be believed. There is a hard metal vocal, a softer tone that sweetens the sound, a dark heavy gothic sound, and the full opera. My preference is the full opera and I wish there was more of it. With a voice like this, use it. Not that any of the rest is unattractive. But, her use of the opera style at the conclusion of this title is hypnotic, beautiful and perfect.
The final title I Will Stay is the bands signature sound. It is the sound that has moved them forward in a variety of media and it is a wonderful production. We are introduced to the music with Elisa’s flute, which gives way to another folk vocal that continues to interact with the flute. Then the guitars join the fun with the keyboards supporting them. There is some overlay of the vocals that move the music forward, the symphonic background becomes more pronounced. This is a seven-minute plus performance; it’s like an epic and a beautiful one in every respect. Elisa again goes to the full opera over the guitars and the moment is magical. Lyrically, she sings:
Dancing on Krk Island
in this night I feel a smell of ancient times
Singing on Krk Island
all my bitter feelings slowly fade away
In my heart I will stay
Dancing on Krk Island
in this night I feel a smell of ancient times
Dreaming of Krk Island
all my silent tears become wings of stars
In my heart I will stay here
All in all a wonderful song, and representative of what Evenoire is all about. Their MySpace site contains much of their musical catalog:
There are also a number of videos that capture the group in action. One hopes this band will find success, and that we will have a far fuller catalog to explore in the near future. The female fronted metal scene doesn’t get a lot better than this.
9.5 / 10
