Where Angels Fall- Illuminate

Artist:Where Angels Fall

CD Title:

Illuminate

Label: Edgerunner Music

Reviewer:Du Nord

Date: 10-15-06

I first heard WAF through their Myspace page and immediately felt they had talent and ingenuity. Their music is both atmospheric and hauntingly heavy, sometimes all at once. Hailing from Norway and fronted by the exquisite voice of Eirin Bendigtsen, WAF delivers plaintive sonnets of faith and love, lost and regained. Andre Bendigtsen bring the thrash/doom attack on guitar with some beautiful flourishes to round out his distinctly “metal” playing style. The interplay is light and dark with soaring vocals intermingled with piano, the occasional violin and choir offset by Andre, ex-drummer Ole Kristian Lovberg and Kristian Andersen’s solid low end artistry. Songs such as “Dies Irae” and “Lux Aeturna” give a delicate and somber feel in a religious vein whereas songs like “Edge of Sanity” really cut loose with great thrash riffs melded to symphonic majesty. The variety of the album makes for enjoyable listening and I still plan to surprise people at the club with some of their tracks. Having spent some years in the metal scene myself, I was attracted to the “dark side” of the music but Eirin’s vocals won me over, as the mesh of subtlety and gravity is a winning combination. Bands like Leaves Eyes, Lacuna Coil and Angtoria also do a great job in this vein (as examples) and I expect only better things from Where Angels Fall in the future. Give my regards to Norway! Visit Where Angels Fall at www.whereangelsfall.com