ReVamp - Wild Card
Revamp - CD Review
Wild Card
2013
Nuclear Blast Records
11 tracks
English lyrics
It is more than obvious that Floor Jansen is my personal goddess. I have followed her since her days with her former band After Forever, which is my all-time favorite symphonic metal band. When I read the sad news about Floor’s burn-out, I was really depressed (and trust me, I am not exaggerating). However, I somehow knew she would not give up and would come back stronger than ever. And finally the time has come to make this prediction of mine happen. Floor is back in the spotlight with the second studio album of her current band ReVamp.
ReVamp’s second studio album is entitled Wild Card. This is a strong and unusual title for a metal album. There is a certain concept behind the title and the artwork of the album, which was created by Richard Stark of NI Concept and Design. Floor made it clear that the band did not want to write a typical female-fronted album. They wanted to do something different. Wild Card features some really varied and diverse stuff indeed. Floor also stated, “When you write and record an album, you never really know what you’re going to get.” On the album’s front cover, you can see Floor being represented as the Queen of Hearts. This specific card can be good or bad; you never know what she would be like. One side of her is nice and sweet, and the other side is nasty and holds a bleeding heart. This bleeding heart, according to Floor, represents herself while she was experiencing her burn-out. So, the factor of the unpredictable and unforeseeable is implied in both the title and the artwork.
There is a small story about the creation of Wild Card. The band had started to write the songs of this album right after the release of ReVamp in 2010. The very special thing about Wild Card is that all the songs were written by all of the band members. Everyone contributed to this album. Unfortunately, Floor got sick, and the writing process stopped for a while. Also, ReVamp thought that they needed some kind of a musical guide to help them write the “right” songs. Who else could play that role better than producer and former After Forever keyboardist Joost van den Broek? So, this time ReVamp worked as a band: Floor did all the vocal lines and lyrics, and Joost, Jord Otto (guitars), and Ruben Wijga (keyboards) did all the instrumental parts. There is something that Floor always points out during interviews, and I personally think it’s rather important to highlight it: While Floor was on tour with Nightwish, the rest of the band continued working on Wild Card. Floor trusted her bandmates and Joost, and this played an important role in the final result.
Another nice detail about Wild Card is the guest appearances. Apart from Mark Jansen (Epica, MaYaN, ex-After Forever) and Devin Townsend, Floor invited some good friends to contribute to the album. Johan van Stratum (Stream of Passion) recorded all the bass parts of Wild Card. Regarding the choir parts, the band joined forces with Marcela Bovio (Stream of Passion) and Daniël de Jongh (Textures), and the outcome is mind-blowing. The choir parts are not very extensive and not typical ones (that’s the main reason why the band chose to work with metal singers).
So, dear readers, fasten you belts and let me introduce you to Wild Card’s world! Once again, there is a trilogy of songs. This trilogy is called “The Anatomy of a Nervous Breakdown,” which refers to Floor’s burn-out. The album opens with the first two tracks of the trilogy: “On The Sideline,” which is the first single of the album, and “The Limbic System.” From the beginning of this album, you get a clear idea about what will follow: powerful clean vocals as well as aggressive vocals performed by Floor herself, sharp guitar riffs, intense drumming, and some electro elements here and there. This is especially noticeable during the middle of “The Limbic System,” and afterwards you will notice how amazing well Floor’s soprano vocals fit with the guitar riff.
The title track for Wild Card then follows, and I have to admit that its melody is a rather innovative one simply because of the way the guitar riffs have tied with the choir parts. Furthermore, this is one of the catchiest songs of the album, and it could easily be the next single. The fourth track, “Precibus,” features a bit of everything, but the one thing that will blow your mind is the choir parts. They are small, but they are kind of at the top of the whole track. Actually, the title of the song sounded weird to my ears. So, I looked it up and found out that “precibus” is a Latin noun and comes from the root word “prex” or “precis.” Often times it can be translated as “prayer,” “request,” or “curse.” I guess that you already understood that once again Floor wrote some really dark, tough, grim, and personal lyrics. And “Nothing” proves that Floor decided to work her ass off on the vocal lines of this album.
The most interesting track of Wild Card is “Neurasthenia,” the final part of “The Anatomy of a Nervous Breakdown” trilogy. Devin Townsend sings along with Floor here. The fact that Floor chose Devin to guest on Wild Card was predictable for me. Floor is a huge fan of Devin, and according to her statements she asked him to participate in this album at the beginning of the writing process and he accepted. In fact, he wanted to co-write this song with Floor, but it turned out that this was not possible due to Devin’s full schedule. However, this did not stop him from adding some typical Devin Townsend elements on it. The diversity of the two voices in this song is significant yet compatible. Devin certainly put his own signature on it!
It would be impossible to not include any ballads on an album where Floor sings. “Distorted Lullabies” starts off dreamy, but don’t be fooled. After the first minute, it becomes totally powerful. This is not a sad song, not at all. This song, as well as others, proves that ReVamp are good songwriters. “Amendatory” is a theatrical song. The vocal lines and general performance bring images to the listener’s mind. And those backing vocals, oh those backing vocals! “I Can Become” is quite an addictive and easy track if you compare it with the rest of the album. But be careful, because it can easily stuck in your head for days (this happened to me!).
“Misery’s No Crime” features growls in the verses performed by Mark Jansen. Once again, I would say that the small choir parts are in the spotlight. However, the best part of this song is the outbreak after Floor’s spoken part. If I would be a microphone, I would not dream of being in front of her mouth when she recorded this song and this specific part of it. Floor brings so much emotion with her vocal performance that the listener can already picture her breaking everything in front of her and singing her lungs out. Wild Card closes in a rather brutal yet nostalgic way with “Wolf and Dog.” It leaves you with the impression that this is not the end of this album and there is more to come – and this really hurt, because I wanted more!
In my humble opinion, Wild Card managed to do what ReVamp did not. Floor and her gang managed to make the difference, to take their art some steps forward. Do not expect to listen to some typical symphonic metal stuff. The songs on Wild Card remind me more of Nevermore than of Nightwish. Actually, I disagree with the label that Nuclear Blast Records have put on ReVamp’s music. They call it “female-fronted metal.” Yes, ReVamp have an amazing female vocalist, but when the listener sees this specific label they expect something else. This album is what I really expected from a brilliant musician like Floor. It’s very heavy, and this band can certainly support it. It features some strange “bouncing” beats in straight parts, sharp and rather proggy riffs, and a strong and solid rhythm section. The drums sound natural and bombastic.
On the vocal parts, once again Floor nailed it. Her vocal lines are not easy, commercial, or typical ones. Actually, these vocal lines could be easily sung by a male vocalist (perhaps some octaves lower, of course!). And one of Floor’s dreams has been to sing brutal vocals. Guess what? All of the brutal vocals are being performed by Floor herself (apart from the tracks with guest vocals, of course), and they sound great. Moreover, there are some traditional orchestral parts and sounds and also some rather dancey and electro sounds, loops, and pianos. In a few words, on Wild Card you are able to listen to every sound a keyboard can produce. Also, the album features some choruses that will be stuck in your mind and haunt you for days. The recording process took part in SandLane Studio (Rijen, NL) with Joost as producer. And of course, the production of the album is an excellent one.
To sum up, as I already said before, ReVamp aimed for a not-so-typical “femme metal” album, and they managed to reach their goal. As I pointed out on my review for ReVamp, this band has the guts but they just needed the right material. With Wild Card, ReVamp have come to kick some serious ass! Joost declared that he “hopes the fans will enjoy every second of this album as much as they did or even more.” I would only be a liar if I say that Wild Card did not left me speechless and did not meet and fulfill every expectation I had!
9 / 10
