Shadows’ Grey – “Bonjour Tristesse” (2011)

Label : Twilight Zone Records

Review by Tony Cannella

Austria’s Melancholic Gothic Metallers Shadows’ Grey was born in 2007 under the banner Scargod. After releasing an obscure demo the band re-emerged with their new moniker Shadows’ Grey and has just unleashed their full-length debut “Bonjour Tristesse” on the unsuspecting metal populace. In addition to the well played Gothic Metal slant that Shadows’ Grey excels at, the band also manages to incorporate a bit of a prog influence as well. “Bonjour Tristesse” features 12-songs and 60-minutes worth of music. Throughout the CD Shadows’ Grey showcases three distinctively different vocal styles. First you have Martina Penzenauer’s Cristina Scabbia-esque vocals in combination with two male singers, one with a clean style and the other a more, aggressive, angry approach. The opening track “Cold” starts off with piano and a slow tempo and the clean vocals of Martina before the track really gets heavy and male vocals that are on the more extreme side join in. For the most part “Cold” keeps a steady, driving mid-tempo pace throughout and is a solid opener. The next track “I Search For Your Hand” opens with a great riff that remains consistent throughout the song, that combined with a great melody makes this one of the highlights for me. “Hurt” starts off as a ballad, before changing tempos several times and the three vocal styles all come together on this song. “Gone” is up next and features a nice chorus that you could hum along to. “Worlds Collapse” highlights Martina’s vocals exclusively. One of the more interesting songs is the acoustic and orchestral “The Promise” that showcases the clean male vocals. Other highlights include: “Lust”, “Broken”, the 8-minute “Love Is Suicide” and the powerful final number “Scargod” (the bands former namesake) which develops into an all out band jam near the end. I wasn’t sure what to expect with “Bonjour Tristesse” but after one listen it became clear to me that Shadows’ Grey are not ‘just another Goth band’. By incorporating more variety and nuances than your average Gothic Metal band, Shadows’ Grey manages to keep things interesting.

Rating – 90/100

Tracklist

1. Cold
2. I Search For Your Hand
3. Hurt
4. Gone
5. Worlds Collapse
6. The Promise
7. Broken
8. Lust
9. Love Is Suicide
10. Farewell
11. Unlike
12. Scargod

Line Up

• Martina Penzenauer – Vocals 
• Albert Gruber – Vocals
• Dominik Sebastian – Guitar & Programming
• Martin Moser – Bass,Vocals & Programming

Links

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