Releasedate: ; Label: InsideOut Music
By: Basak Günel
The Gentle Storm is a new band formed by Holland’s finest two musicians, Arjen Lucassen and Anneke van Giersbergen. Although the band has been formed in 2014, these two musicians have a working relationship that goes back to 1998 for Ayreon’s (one of Arjen’s most known projects) breakthrough third album, “Into The Electric Castle”. Ten years later they teamed up again for Ayreon’s seventh album, “01011001”, both having established themselves as world renowned heavy metal / rock artists in the decade between releases. Although their respective musical styles went in vastly different directions during that time, Arjen and Anneke retained a common ground that ultimately led to the creation of The Gentle Storm. “The Diary” is the first full-length debut album of the band.
“The Diary” is a concept album about a love story set in the 17th century. The album consists of two discs/parts with the same tracklist; ‘the gentle’ version and ‘the storm’ version.
Considering the album has a concept from 17th century, the album has a general medieval/folk-ish approach that is perfectly combined with Anneke’s sweet and velvet-like voice. Just listen to “Heart of Amsterdam” or “Storm” and be assured to take a ride to those times and get lost in the instruments. Apart from this, another song that stands out is “Shores of India” which has that ethnic, oriental vibe and definitely one of the highlights of the album. Nevertheless, I cannot pick a favorite; each song tells a story within the concept and is beautiful in its own.
Since the album consists of two versions, it’s worth mentioning why the band decided to do such a thing. For the lovers of the jazz/folk/instrumental side of the music, ‘Gentle Version’ will be more than just amazing. In this version, we hear all the instruments – especially violin- just in bare and stripped form so this version is more natural. ‘Storm Version’, on the other hand, is full of orchestrations, choirs and powerful riffs that will mesmerize every metal fan and (of course) fans of Arjen’s projects in general. Especially in this version, we see just how talented this duo is once more. One might think that the songs will also sound the same in both versions but that’s not the case; the same song sounds quite different and reflects a different atmosphere in two versions. Personally, I fell in love with the ‘Gentle Version’ as I found that version more natural and ‘from-the-heart’ but it’s hard not to like ‘Storm Version’; the choirs and orchestrations add a unique and tough vibe to the songs, making them ‘stormy’ indeed.
“The Diary” is a magical concept album which will attract every listener. I assure you that there is not a single song that disturbs the vibe of the album; the album is filled with beautiful and powerful melodies. It’s up to the listener to decide if they wanna take the ‘gentle’ or the ‘stormy’ ride. Definitely one of the best of 2015!
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Tracklist: CD1: Gentle 01. Endless Sea 02. Heart of Amsterdam 03. The Greatest Love 04. Shores of India 05. Cape of Storms 06. The Moment 07. The Storm 08. Eyes of Michiel 09. Brightest Light 10. New Horizons 11. Epilogue: The Final Entry CD2: Storm |
Links:
The Gentle Storm Facebook
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