Dendura- New Life

Originally formed in 2004 before going through a series of lineup changes and reinventions, Michigan's Dendura have finally arrived with their first full-length album. The band's 2006 debut, New Life, is an 8-song, 36-minute foray into melodic metal territory, blending strong female vocals with a Middle Eastern-influenced progressive metal sound. Fronted by vocalist/keyboardist Aziza Amy Poggi, the band's intricate percussion, snaking bass, and blend of distorted guitar riffing, melodic clean guitar, and soaring metal lead work coalesce into a fairly well produced, written, and performed album.

Straightforward synth-laden metal offerings like "I Have a Gun" and "Nemesis" are supplemented by the diversity and more intricate time and tempo changes of tracks like "I, Nephthys" and the closing "Mummified". Particularly melodic, the album contains intricate passages but also its fair share of memorable hooks (the sinister standout "Symphony" a good example of both extremes). While not always particularly poignant, the album's lyrics are relatively solid overall, nicely blending the mythological and contemporary. Top tracks, like the decidedly 90s goth rock-infused, radio-friendly metal of "Nemesis", the Eastern-tinged rock and metal of the memorable "Isis", and the aforementioned "Symphony" showcase a sound that is consistent yet diverse.

As a whole, Dendura's New Life is a fairly impressive debut, at once melodic, moody, and powerful. With a dark, synth-laden sound that may appeal as much to the goth crowd as to metal fans, its cross-genre appeal and relatively solid songwriting make this one worth checking out.