Delain isn't strictly a band. The only permanent members are the ex-Within Temptation member Martjin Westerholt (who had to leave Within Temptation from chronic illness) and Charlotte Wessels (who was an accidental find). Various songs on Lucidity have aid from a "wish list" of artists from other bands. The CD is more of a project than an album, a project for gothic metal with Charlotte's lovely popesque (albeit accented) voice.
Perhaps since Delain was started by a man who was both in Within Temptation for so long and the brother of its founder, the music style is very similar to that other popular Dutch band. Though Delain is slightly different, listeners unfamiliar with the style of music likely won't be able to distinguish Delain's gothic metal from Within Temptation's symphonic metal aspect.
The music is still very good. A music box (which you see in the music video) opens the song's basic line. It all melds beautifully, without anything that makes you grimace from poor mixing. Martjin Westerholt chose skilled artists to work with for his project.
"Frozen" (to be distinguished from the like-named songs by Within Temptation and Voyage) is a ghost story. "Misty windows hide your empty eyes…" (Note that Delain's "Frozen" and "Deep Frozen" are identical except for the chorus, which is very different.) The narrator is haunted by a ghost who wants her to "Answer me" and "Please let me in! The nicely-done music video shows Charlotte trying to track down what haunts her (though the reversed time-lapse pictures I found a bit obvious).
An interesting aspect to the song and music video is that the song narrator evidently doesn't know who is haunting her. She's as confused as anyone else.
Charlotte Wessels haunts the listener with the "Answer me. Until the day you do, I'll be one step behind you!" The vocals make you think of a haunting without necessarily thinking a horror movie was in order (like Evanescence's "Haunted"). Nonetheless, I unfortunately found her accent distracting. Her voice is lovely and prettily suits the gothic metal.
The song "Frozen" and its music video can currently be found on Delain's official MySpace page.
Music: 5/5
Vocal(s): 4/5
Overall: 9/10
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