Label : Scarlet Records
Review by Tony Cannella
The band Whyzdom was formed in France in 2007. In 2009 they released their full-length debut, “From the Brink of Infinity”. Now this symphonic metal entity returns with an album even more epic, grandiose and cinematic than their debut. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you… “Blind?”
Whyzdom made one very big line-up change prior to recording “Blind?”, lead vocalist Elvyne Lorient joined the band and she fits in quite nicely. Musically, Whyzdom’s sound is big, dramatic and has a definite cinematic quality, they are sure to draw comparisons to Anette era Nightwish (if they haven’t already), but their music is good enough to stand on its own. “Blind?” is a powerful and beautifully orchestrated album that is well over an hour’s worth music. The opener “The Lighthouse” is surprisingly a pretty straight-forward metal track, with a great opening guitar riff and some orchestration. Throughout “Blind?”, Whyzdom use choir vocals on some songs with great success – this only adds to the hugeness and cinematic elements that this band possesses. The choir vocals are prominent on the next track “Dancing With Lucifer”. It is hard to pick a favorite or highlight for me, but the next track “Cassandra’s Mirror” would be a good choice. Next is the 8-minute “On the Road to Babylon”, this is another big track and it is followed by “Paper Princess” which – I think – would have some great mainstream appeal, but that’s only my opinion. This is mostly a ballad but the song does pick up steam and heaviness near the end. “Blind?” is concluded with the monster 11-minute epic “Cathedral of the Damned”. This song is basically a mixture of what makes Whyzdom so great. With heavy doses of orchestration, changing tempos and just strong performances all the way around, I can’t think of a better way to conclude “Blind?”.
Whyzdom is fast becoming one of my favorite metal bands and they certainly do not have to take a backseat to anyone. “Blind?” is such a good album that should launch Whyzdom into the top tier of Symphonic Metal.
Rating – 95/100
Tracklist
- The Lighthouse
- Dancing With Lucifer
- Cassandra’s Mirror
- On the Road to Babylon
- Paper Princess
- The Spider
- The Wolves
- Venom and Frustration
- Lonely Roads
- The Foreseer
- Cathedral of the Damned
Line Up
- Elvyne Lorient – Vocals
- Vynce Leff – Guitar, Orchestration
- Regis Morin – Guitar
- Marc Ruhlmann – Keyboards
- Xavier Corrientes – Bass
- Nico Chaumeaux – Drums