Sarah Jezebel Diva – The Corruption of Mercy (2011)

After the downright horrendous “A Sign of Sublime”, Sarah Jezebel Diva (and company) returns with a redeeming album titled “The Corruption of Mercy”. Featuring 10 tracks of pretty solid Symphonic/Gothic Metal, Sarah delivers a great vocal performance with catchy songs and a considerably better sound than in her first album.

Opening with “No Paragon of Virtue”, we have very powerful guitar work and hectic drumming paired with nice vocal arrangements and a thick keyboard atmosphere. This song at times sounds like Black Metal song and we totally dig this more aggressive approach to thing from the band. In a more symphonic fashion we have “The World Won’t Hold Your Hand”, a very melodic song that showcases Sarah’s talents very dynamically.

In a slower pace we have the Gothic Rock sounding “A Matter of Convenience” track that sounds a bit like the “A Sign of Sublime” song plus some extra electronic elements. “Silence Please” sounds bit like Cradle of Filth (minus the howls), keeping the flow of this release very fresh. Our only little beef with this release is the somewhat unsatisfying cover of “Zombie”. While the music is pretty solid, we can’t really get into how Sarah’s vocals fit into the song and the slower pace of things.

Going into the ‘second half’ of this album we have a decent piano ballad called “Pretty with Effects” and more ambient/symphonic stuff with “What Lies before You”. The best track of the album for us is “Sirens” and its very straightforward approach with powerful guitar riffs, tight drumming and the dreamlike vocals of Sarah. However, at this moment you start noticing that most of the vocal chorus sections have the same melody to them, while this is not bad, it does make songs sound very similar to each other.

With a somber tone, “The Eyes that Lie” have an interesting shift in the band’s typical songwriting approach and keeps things fresh. The album’s title track features an even ‘Doom-ier’ sound with a nice pace and a beautiful piano passage. In general, “The Corruption of Mercy” is a HUGE improvement over the band’s first effort and should get the recognition it deserves. As a ‘solo’ artist Sara Jezebel has been learning the ropes for the last few years and we believe she is now ready to take the center stage, so give this album a shot.

Release: August 30th, 2011

Country: UK