Stream of Passion – Embrace The Storm
InsideOut Music – IOMCD 228 – 24.10.05
By Anna Novitzky
Call me a traitor to my gender but, generally speaking, I don’t much like female-fronted metal, especially of the gothic kind. I find it pretentious, sappy and dull. Imagine, then, the resignation with which I received Embrace The Storm, the debut album by female-fronted gothic-progressive outfit Stream Of Passion. Then imagine my relief at actually hearing them, and believe me when I say that Stream Of Passion have done bloody well to get past my crap-filter. In fact, they’ve done bloody well full stop.
Founded by Dutch musical polymath, Arjen Anthony Lucassen, with help from Mexican vocalist, Marcela Bovio, Stream Of Passion is an exercise in making a long-distance relationship work, composed as it is of six musicians from around the world, collaborating via the internet. Together they have produced an album of instantly captivating grace, eerily atmospheric but affecting. Blending violins with heavy guitars and ethereal keyboards, along with tribal drumming and an occasional middle-eastern flavour, Embrace The Storm displays exquisite skill combined with a sense of team-play that eliminates all unnecessary widdling. Perhaps the most striking element, however, is the vocals: Bovio, singing in Spanish and English, has a strong but pure voice that is compelling without resorting to opera-style theatrics.
It’s true that the lyrics tend to the teenage-poetry side of sentimental and that the tracks merge into one on repeated listening, but it’s all done with such elegance that one forgives them easily. Stream Of Passion are an exciting new group from whom we can expect great things, and Amy Lee et al should take note.
8/10
Stream of Passion's Official Website
InsideOut Music’s Official Website
InsideOut Music – IOMCD 228 – 24.10.05
By Anna Novitzky
Call me a traitor to my gender but, generally speaking, I don’t much like female-fronted metal, especially of the gothic kind. I find it pretentious, sappy and dull. Imagine, then, the resignation with which I received Embrace The Storm, the debut album by female-fronted gothic-progressive outfit Stream Of Passion. Then imagine my relief at actually hearing them, and believe me when I say that Stream Of Passion have done bloody well to get past my crap-filter. In fact, they’ve done bloody well full stop.
Founded by Dutch musical polymath, Arjen Anthony Lucassen, with help from Mexican vocalist, Marcela Bovio, Stream Of Passion is an exercise in making a long-distance relationship work, composed as it is of six musicians from around the world, collaborating via the internet. Together they have produced an album of instantly captivating grace, eerily atmospheric but affecting. Blending violins with heavy guitars and ethereal keyboards, along with tribal drumming and an occasional middle-eastern flavour, Embrace The Storm displays exquisite skill combined with a sense of team-play that eliminates all unnecessary widdling. Perhaps the most striking element, however, is the vocals: Bovio, singing in Spanish and English, has a strong but pure voice that is compelling without resorting to opera-style theatrics.
It’s true that the lyrics tend to the teenage-poetry side of sentimental and that the tracks merge into one on repeated listening, but it’s all done with such elegance that one forgives them easily. Stream Of Passion are an exciting new group from whom we can expect great things, and Amy Lee et al should take note.
8/10
Stream of Passion's Official Website
InsideOut Music’s Official Website
