Obsidian Lost - Nature
Nature
CD Info
2011
Self Released
8 Tracks
Spanish Lyrics
There are a lot of beautiful voices found in Female Fronted Metal, or Gothic as it’s often referred to. For many, it’s the vocals that count, often more than other components, the instrumental, the lyrics, the actual song composition. For others, it’s just one part of the whole. But, if you treasure the vocal, this CD should be on your want list, and at or very near the top. Obsidian Christine’s is a voice that captivates, it soars to heavenly heights, it tantalizes, it’s just plain beautiful. And, even better, the music that accompanies it is sufficiently strong enough to actually enhance the listening experience. Nature is an 8 track production that showcases this beauty, even if it does so over a limited range of styles. We’re not talking heavy metal here, our vocalist doesn’t do the screaming that many enjoy. And, with a voice like this, it probably would seem out of place on this production. But, there are guitars and drums, along with a range of keyboard produced sounds to back up the vocal. Obsidian Christine is from Barcelona, right down the road from my Alma Mata at La Universidad de Valencia on the coast of Spain. It’s a beautiful, romantic location, scenic beaches, a lovely city, a breathtaking coastline, fine food and the best sangria to be found anywhere on earth. And the CD, which is sung entirely in Spanish, a Spanish that is pretty close to Valencian Spanish, reflects that beauty.
How would we describe the sound? Well, "Cantautora y compositora, es Soprano Dramática con un registro vocal de tres octavas. Amante de la Naturaleza y el Arte en general." Three octaves, that’s a lot, and this is a sophisticated voice, one that hits the notes where they’re supposed to be hit, but with a little something extra. I don’t know if it’s just that lovely Spanish sound, the beauty of the language, or if it’s that and the person doing the singing. There are a number of tracks where Christine delivers the lyrics as a spoken word. And, they’re nearly as beautiful as when she’s singing, and sexy beyond anything you’ve ever heard. The initial track, Amonike meets this description with a dramatic spoken vocal over a classical background. It’s only a couple minutes but we get a fine introduction to the beauty we are about to behold. And, towards the end we get a glimpse off those top registers, the higher octaves, that few can achieve, and fewer still can make sound this dramatic.
It’s a true measure of a vocalist when we take her interpretation of another artist’s work and compare the two. I know most of us who are interested in this music are more than a little familiar with Epica’s Simone Simons, one of the truly masterful voices in Symphonic, Operatic Gothic music. Well, I found an interesting interpretation of one of Epica’s most beautiful titles by Christine on YouTube, and I’ll let you be the judge. The title is Trois Vierges, from Epica’s Consign to Oblivion CD, one of the bigger releases from this style of music. Anyway, here’s an interesting presentation with Simons doing the song, with Roy Khan from Kamelot. Not all that bad, eh/. Well, here’s Christine doing the same song. You getting the picture yet? It’s really a shame this song isn’t on the CD, not that the rest aren’t just as good, it’s just that I always loved this song and this interpretation only makes it that much more appealing, and Christine doesn’t even get Roy Khan to work with. But one thing’s beyond a doubt, the vocalists in Female Metal take a back seat to NO ONE.
But, as usual, I digress, so, back to the CD at hand. There’s not a lot of technical information I can report here, and I never got a copy of the lyrics, in Spanish or English, so I can just address that component based on my interpretation of the lyrics from the original Spanish. I wouldn’t say they’re especially dark, more of a walk down the environmental side of the street, but delivered with a linguistic approach that tends to mirror the musical component. I have a hard enough time interpreting lyrics in English from just listening and some of this Spanish from the Mediterranean coast of Spain can be especially difficult, especially since my Spanish for the past 30 years or so has been more Cuban oriented. But, from what I can make out, there are some lovely lyrics addressing some interesting concepts. But not being fluent in Spanish should in no way have a significant negative impact on your enjoyment here; you get enough positive from the music to make the listening experience more than worthwhile.
The majority of the tracks on Nature are almost classical in nature. There are a number of musicians helping out on this production; I found 6 names in addition to Christine on one web site. Now, I’m not sure who’s playing what or even all the instruments involved. However, there is clearly a classical, orchestral approach to the music. Of course, some this may be sample based, in the grand tradition of today’s music, however, there are clearly a number of keyboard sounds and several distinct guitar sounds, including the prerequisite Spanish guitar that is used on a number of tracks. One of the most dramatic of these is Dragon’s Blood, where that guitar leads to another spoken verse, and listening to Christine speak is about as sexy a sound as mankind has yet to employ. Reminds me of a lovely lady in Valencia who introduced me to bull fighting. . . among other things. I think that’s where I actually learned to speak Spanish and enjoyed the experience more than I can possibly relate.
Although most of the music on the CD tends towards that classical approach, there are tracks where we are reminded that there is a metal component here, and a fairly nice one at that. Those Spanish guitars are occasionally exchanged for a metal guitar and to good effect. One instance of this direction is Rain To Me where a solid metal guitar introduces the song and makes repeat guest appearances at several points thereafter. But even these interesting side tracks take a back seat to the vocals. We’re here to listen to a beautiful voice and, good as the background musicians are, they seem to understand this central theme and make sure they support rather than lead.
The title track, Nature, may be the highlight of this strong musical tour de force. We begin with a keyboard intro which leads to the vocals. And Christine takes us to unbelievable places musically with this song. I’ve probably listened to this song as many times as anything I’ve heard in the past few years and still can’t get enough of it. There’s a strong orchestral component mid song, but it’s the vocal, especially the strong soprano in the higher registers that just will not stop. The message is equally entertaining, a bit darker than some of the material here, but perfectly fit to the music.
I will have to admit, ever since being introduced to this music by Robin Stryker some time ago, I’ve been fascinated by it. If there is a strong vocal out there in Female Metal, I’m not aware of it. And I’ve spread the word, projects like Beto Vasquez Infinity from Argentina are always working with the top female vocalists on the planet and Obsidian Christine is up there with any of them, including Tarja herself. Are you listening Beto? And, for anyone else who loves a top flight vocalist working at the top of her artistry, you just can’t beat this music. And that being the case, mark it down, it’s a 10. Case closed.
