More than one Dutch metal band has a strong gothic influence on the first album, a sound that wanes in following albums. Nemesea qualifies in this category, and Mana was their first album. Ergo, "Angel In The Dark" has an undeniably gothic sound.
(In other words, listeners will find this song depressing or relaxing. Or both.)
It's a rock ballad, and the singer Manda Ophius demonstrates a nice voice, managing to sound strong and delicate on all the right points. Her Dutch accent comes through faintly, but she's still comprehensible.
The music itself contains a variety of instruments, though it's heavy on piano, electric guitar, and drums each in different sections. The sections do end up working together for the divergent parts of the 6-minute song, but the transitions sometimes strike me as a measure or so too long. And the volume is inconsistent through the song—you need to turn it up to catch the delicate piano beginning, then turn it down when the rock section kicks in. And sometimes the music majorly overwhelms Manda Ophius's voice. It's unfortunate.
The lyrics themselves speak of a girl who used to be cheerful and enjoy life, but a series of hardships have broken her down, leaving her depressed. She doesn't understand the bad things that have hurt her, that keep hurting her. Will she fight through the depression before it destroys her? "She wanted to be… an angel in the dark", someone who didn't let the dark times bring her down. Will she become that or not?
Frankly, I love the lyrics. They excellently express how even an optimist can end up depressed. And Manda Ophius uses her voice to add to the emotional impact of the song. If only we could hear her better…
If you enjoy gothic songs with tempos and such that change mid-song (like some of Nightwish's offerings), you'll probably like this.
As of this writing, Nemesea does not offer this song on their YouTube channel.
Lyrics: 5/5
Music: 3/5
Vocal(s): 5/5
Overall: 8/10
I think one of your advertisements caused my internet browser to resize, you might want to put that on your blacklist.
ReplyDeleteI apologize. Unfortunately, without having any idea of what advertisements were showing when your browser resized, I can't blacklist anybody. I need specific URLs to do that. :-(
ReplyDeleteMy rate a little bit different. here it is:
ReplyDeleteLyrics: 4/5
Music: 3.5/5
Vocal(s): 3/5
Overall: 5.5/10
Lyric - 5/5
ReplyDeleteMusic 5/5
Vox - 5/5
total - MAXIMUM PLEASURE!!
just great!