Exit Eden – Rhapsodies in Black (2017)

As one of the most unique ‘super groups’ to hit the scene, today we have Exit Eden and their debut release “Rhapsodies in Black”. Featuring famed and established Metal vocalists Amanda Somerville, Clémentine Delauney, and up and coming talent Marina La Torraca and Anna Brunner, this outfit is definitely not lacking in vocal talent. This release delivers over 11 tracks with are all cover songs from artists ranging from Depeche Mode to Rihanna. While this might sound a bit odd, this release definitely will appear to fans of Gothic/Symphonic Metal as it has some killer musical arrangements on top of lush vocal harmonies.

Opening with “Question of Time”, the band sets a very lively mood while covering Depeche Mode’s hit. While some of the covers are more interesting than others, tracks like “Impossible” and “Frozen” truly showcase the band’s unique vocal talents while perfectly balancing the unique signing styles of the band’s members. Other songs like their cover of Brian Adams “Heaven”, rely on individual vocal talents and very well-crafted arrangements that totally re-interpret a very well-known song into heavier territories.

Mainstream music followers will certainly appreciate the playful covers of songs like “Firework” and Adele’s “Skyfall”. Unless you have been living under a rock or born in the last 10 years, you should be quite impressed with Exit Eden’s rendition of “Total Eclipse”. Sounding like a very dramatic Symphonic Metal piece, this cover is by far our favorite song in this release. The band’s ability to make all these songs ‘heavier’ is quite magical and reminds us of outfits like the Northern Kings and their quest of taking on mainstream songs and making them heavier.

Closing with a killer cover of Visage’s synth pop anthem “Fade to Grey”, we are left quite excited by the band’s musical potential. While we personally don’t like some of the selected songs, the band does a great job in providing quality reinterpretation of some of the most iconic mainstream songs in the last few decades. The talents of the band’s four vocalists are unrivaled, and would probably shine even brighter if they had their own material rather than somebody else’s. However, until then, this is a very good female-fronted release that should be not go unnoticed by fans of the genre.

Label: Napalm Records

Release: August 4th, 2017

Genre: Symphonic/Gothic Metal

Country: International