CD Info

2011
Self Released / Belgium

5  Tracks

English Lyrics

But Jamie-Lee is making it, and making it big, and there’s no rice paddies in her future. Azylya is her third band, she started with Skeptical Minds, then worked for a time with Aedden before leaving and forming Azylya with thrash musician Vlad. The sound on this rather limited EP is first rate Beauty and the Beast, B & B, with Jamie-Lee providing the beauty. There’s a lot to say that’s good about the EP, the only really negative thing I have to say is that there just ain’t enough of it. We only get a taste, but it’s a taste to relish. We get some outstanding symphonic from the keys, some strong guitar as required, the angelic vocals provided by our teenager, and some fine death vocals. But the highlight is the material. The songs are well developed, have the requisite hooks and reflect some outstanding composition. The production, well, it’s not bad but it’s a ways from Epica in that regard. But, the music is sufficiently good to pretty much deal with most shortcomings, we don’t walk away feeling short changed because the band didn’t have the bucks to work with the top production houses in Europe. That’s not to say it’s a problem, we just don’t get production at the level of a Nightwish or Within Temptation. But the music, well, that’s another story. It stands on its merit, and does so with an outstanding caste of performers, instrumental and vocal.

But the music isn’t the only thing that makes this an outstanding effort. What we get here is a story, and it’s dark, even by Gothic standards. The cover of the CD shows a sultry 17 year old, dressed in lace and cutoffs, standing in a field, holding a doll by the hair. And that sure captures the essence of Thanatos’ Insanity, or would Petulant Pedophilia be a more appropriate term. We get the darkest interpretation of human infirmity here; we take a walk down the tunnel of incestuous blasphemy. It’s a tale of the horrors of childhood, the end of innocence and the dark side of relationships. Jamie-Lee sings the roll of a damaged child, one who has been poisoned by life, by a family that has taken all it can take, while the dark male vocal represents the insanity that has taken the soul of the child, while looking for redemption. And, it’s as fine an interpretation of this underside of the story of humanity as I’ve heard, even if it is one we’d all prefer to push to the background and hide in the darkest recesses of the human condition.

Thanatos’ Insanity begins with a dark prelude, an instrumental selection over the sounds of a child’s room, the ticking clock, the sound of a child’s toys, the innocence of youth, a condition soon to be destroyed. It’s appropriately named The Beginning since everything starts somewhere, and this is the lovely of the EP, the last beauty we experience. As the clock ticks down, the second selection begins, over a haunting keyboard soundscape. Incest begins our dark journey as the guitars take us lower into this haunted requiem. Jamie-Lee sings:

But this is B & B, a dialog of sorts and we get various perspectives from the other side, the darkness, which has it’s own fears and ghosts of the soul. However, the reality of the relationship is manifest in it’s action, it’s own interpretation is irrelevant.

It’s a riveting introduction, both musically and lyrically. You really don’t know what to pay more attention to, the music or the message of horror. And it gets better with the third selection, Woodscape. This is a harder selection, the guitars begin to storm, we take a more desperate ride. Jamie-Lee’s vocals become more intense as the realization of the endless pain becomes self-evident. The darkness also takes a harder direction, as if to keep up the requirement to both control and explain the depravity that drives it to destroy both participants. And that need is expressed in its darkest statement:

Delirius continues the interplay, but now we hear some different direction from the participants. The music continues to grow in intensity. Jamie-Lee’s vocals get more desperate, more intense. It’s hard to imagine this level of emotion from a 17 year old, especially given the nature of the material. The background instrumental also gets more intense; we feel the drive towards destruction. There’s a little more symphonic in this number from the keyboards and they serve the purpose of providing an underlying feeling over which the guitars and vocals ride. Jamie-Lee goes to a spoken word here to provide emphasis, a different vehicle to explain the pain. Then, a quiet keyboard takes us to a crunching metal provided by the guitars, as Jamie-Lee provides some highlight vocals that take the song to completion. Probably a highlight of the work, certainly the most emotional component, and some of the finest instrumental work, especially the guitars.

The final selection is Azylya. This is the rocker. This is where both vocalists cut loose, where the guitars begin to show us the heavy metal direction. But, if there’s any hope to be had, it’s in damn short supply. We recognize the futility of the situation; we are left with little to look forward to. This is eternal and the metal screams over the pain of the child:

Well, you get the picture. We’re not in Disney Boy Band territory here. It’s almost a little difficult to believe that this is the production of a 17 year old, sung by a 17 year old, but, times ain’t what they use to be, and we’re not in Kansas anymore. Especially in the sense that what we have here is some potential for music that is not to be overlooked. Azylya will be around for a while. Hell, I hate to think what this lady will be producing when she hits 21, I’m not sure we’ll be able to handle it. But for now, this is Gothic, first rate Gothic, and we can all celebrate that.

The good news, Azylya seems to be hitting the road in some good company. They’re associating with some good names, Whyzdom, for instance, so they’re clearly drawing some attention. And maybe that attention will lead to a full CD in the near future. Until that time, you can’t go far astray with this effort, and just wait till she hits 20. Because, even silence is guilty at AZYLYA!

Special Thanks to Dieter Leemans of MetalurgiA for assisting with this review

9.5 / 10

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