Independent Release
Review by Tony Cannella
Mercy Isle is a new Dutch/American symphonic metal outfit. Their debut album “Undying Fire” is set to be unleashed on October 21, 2016 just a few days before their anticipated performance at the Metal Female Voices Festival and those who follow the band through social media will understand the hard work that went into this. That said, their hard work has paid off; quite simply, “Undying Fire” could, quite possibly be the debut of the year and should make a lot of top ten lists at years’ end. It’s that good. Lead vocalist Kassandra Novell has a multi-tiered vocal style which can evoke different emotions. She can do the operatic thing, a more mid-range melodic voice and occasionally extreme vocals which she is equally great at. The opening track “Wake Up” is a straight-up metal song and sets the tone perfectly for what is to come. The whole band works really great together and the chemistry is evident from the opening song on. “Storm” is a great song with some changing tempos and some more great vocalization from Kassandra. “Stop, Kiss Me” is a powerful mid-tempo number and one that is arguable my favorite track. “If I Could” is a beautiful ballad and another song that I really loved. “Undying Fire” is pretty consistent throughout as you’ll hear on songs like “Uncaged”, “No One Will Save You” and “Saying Goodbye”(featuring guest vocals from Amanda Somerville). It is easy to sometimes become jaded with the number of bands to review and consume and believe me I am so lucky to be able to be exposed to so much great music, but sometimes a band comes along and re-ignites that spark (or ‘fire’, bad pun intended); for me Mercy Isle is such a band and “Undying Fire” is such an album.
Rating – 93/100
Tracklist
- Wake Up
- Storm
- Stop, Kiss Me
- If I Could
- Uncaged
- No One Will Save You
- I Am
- Saying Goodbye (feat.Amanda Somerville)
- Come to Me
- The Ghost
Line Up
- Kassandra Novell – Vocals
- Sebas Honing – Guitars (Guest Musician)
- Joop de Rooij – Keyboards
- Chad Novell – Bass
- Ywe Van Der Pol – Drums
Links