Since turning out the Daughter of the Night, Whyzdom has been busy. They won honors at the Female Voices Festival in Belgium last year and have been a hit everywhere they appeared. This year, they are a solid highlight at that same festival. When I suggested in the previous review that Whyzdom would be a hit, I didn’t realize they would be this successful. But Brink takes them solidly to the limelight; it’s everything that Daughter was and much, much more.

Whyzdom takes their direction from Vynce Leff, the band is his composition as is the sound. And, while that sound is clearly housed in the symphonic gothic realm, it performs at the absolute top of that category. The influence is taken from the romantic themes of the classical periods right up to the progressive influences of contemporary music. Current symphonic can take many forms, most of them some combination of keyboard instruments of varying degrees of sophistication. Some, however, go the extra mile and utilize an entire orchestration and there are those who would argue that this is a direction that is hard to imitate. Whyzdom utilizes a somewhat different direction in the utilization of the symphonic theme, and does so quite successfully. There are passages that approximate a fuller orchestration, however, there are other passages where the individual instruments are clearly the focus. And these instruments are used to represent an emotive quality, whether they are violins, flutes, trumpets or even bagpipes which are used to bookend the final selection, On The Wings of Time, a highlight carried over from the Daughter of the Night EP.

As may be gathered from my previous reviews on this site, I pay attention to lyrics. Gothic music is, by definition, topical and intended to forward a message beyond the classical "I sure do love ya honey" theme that has driven popular music since we moved beyond Dixie and the Hillbilly songs from the Great Plains. So, much as I love Frank Sinatra, I prefer music that has something to say that I can contemplate beyond the next break in the album. And Brink has that. The theme is classic gothic; it looks to that point where life meets the eternal, where the living face the darkness, where all our mortal understanding faces the final questions. The individual songs address individual experiences where this point has been reached and the end contemplated. The themes address different reactions to this point in life and come from different directions representing different realities. And, it is this variety that makes each story interesting, for each of us sings our own song and takes a different and distinctly individual path to that final moment.

The songs from the EP that are included here, The Witness, The Train, Daughter of the Night and On The Wings of Time introduce us to this direction. The Witness looks at that moment from the perspective of a little girl, looking at the battlefield where death is about to take full reign, where the legions of soldiers go forward to their death not understanding why and not taking the time to ask. The child laments:

The Train uses mass transportation to represent that last ride by an unwilling passenger. As she begins to reach that final station her fears get the best of her, she pleads:

The response:

Daughter takes up this theme from a different angle. Here the lyrics are sung by the spirit on the other side, the welcoming party, as it were. The welcoming is initially in classic Latin:

However, we are left with no illusion regarding who is speaking:

The new songs on Brink continue this theme and are equally interesting. They do occasionally go in some different musical directions. One of the most interesting is The Old Man in the Park. Songstress Telya Melane covers a range of musical styles on this CD, and this is one of the more touching and beautiful. The theme here regards loss, the loss of a loved one and the requirement to question that loss. How do we look back, how do we put a life in perspective, where is our loved one now?

A related theme is covered in a harder musical style in Escaping the Ghosts of Reality. The song talks about escape, and the inevitable reckoning with those ghosts we have so long tried to leave behind. Brink is largely sung by the gothic female lead, however, on this one and on a couple others, a harsh male vocal sung by Leff brings a darker line of thought to the story. In Escaping, the tone is more direct, the guitar riffs more pronounced, but the final moment is just as clear:

Good as the lyrics are, it’s the music that really drives Brink. The orchestrated components are first rate, singer Telya Melane is outstanding, and the choral work that serves to augment several titles is as good as it gets. Leff clearly understands the contribution of a good choir and makes sure it gets utilized. This is especially true in The Train, Daughter and Atlantis, among others. And their part in these songs is an integral part of the conversation. For instance, in The Witness, the choir serves as a counterpoint to Death as he implicitly accuses God of having made war a part of the human condition. Their response, sung in Greek, translates as "God, have mercy". And the "Libera Me" from Daughter is a classical text meaning "Free me from eternal death". The contemporary introduction just previous to that lyric represents the moment between life and death, with its dissonant and haunting sounds, which, if you listen closely to the cellos, provides some musical themes that parallel the verse. And, in Atlantis, the choir is the voice of Destiny talking to the main character in an accusatory yet saddened manner. It’s a haunting sound, one that sends chills down your spine, and one you tend to remember. Guitars are used, sometimes to interesting effect; however, I wouldn’t classify this as a guitar based music.

It would be regrettable not to mention the other musicians on Brink; they include Tristan Demurger on bass, Nico Chaumeaux on drums, Regis Morin on guitar and Marc Ruhlmann on keyboards with Telya Melane on vocals and Vynce Leff on guitar, orchestrations and vocals. And, finally, the lovely ladies of the choir.

So, how do we rate this production? Well, I can find no fault, I can listen to each selection over and over and never get tired, it’s beautiful music and interesting ideas. What more can you ask (other than maybe some French lyrics, Vynce)? So, let’s just say, it’s a 10 plus, how far past 10 is up to the individual listener. And, I suspect there will be plenty of them.

10 / 10