Diary of Destruction - Outside the Shade
CD Info
2010
Independent Release
6 Tracks
English Lyrics
There’s so much to the music, especially the Female Fronted. It’s largely where the Gothic subgenre comes from; it’s largely where much of the contemporary emphasis has developed. And the Gothic is largely black; it talks to the hidden side, that side of life that is not celebrated by the popular media. It’s that part of life that we all live, but a part that we sometimes prefer to ignore, that part that is better left unaddressed. We all have that segment that we consider at night, that part that makes us deal with a reality that is not celebrated. And this music addresses that part of life. It makes us consider that "other side". It takes us there in song, in music, in lyric. We often view this part of our life in solitude, where we can think about it without having to acknowledge it. And this part of life seems to be best addressed by the Western European bands. They seem to be much more comfortable with this direction, while the rappers celebrate death and degradation in the moment, while the Country Western singers celebrate a lost love, while the Disney Boy bands celebrate whatever their message is, the Gothic bands take us to that lost part of life, where eternity is featured, where our fears are revealed. And Diary of Destruction takes us there; this is a trip into the darkness, where our less attractive side of reality is revealed, where life is not pretty, where we face what we fear. And they do it with crunching metal and a vocal that approximates that location like few can.
The French have always been a little more comfortable with this direction. If you want darkness, they seem to be comfortable with delivering it. Whether it’s Whyzdom with their view of Eternity or Dark Sanctuary with their view from the graveyard, the French seem to have this innate ability to approximate the weaknesses of the human condition. Diary of Destruction is a new sound, delivered by a multicultural French ensemble with some strong musical capabilities. Lead singer Audrey Ebrotie is a black Frenchwoman with amazing vocal capability. You don’t often hear a vocalist like this, and it takes us places where few can lead. Ethereal at times, diabolical at other times, beautiful at all times, this is a voice for the ages, spoken and sung. It doesn’t get much better than this. There is a harsh male vocal at times, straight from the grave, right where we want it. The guitars are thundering, they approximate that hell that drives the music, the drums crunch as required. The bass provides both a signal lead on occasion and a background on all occasions. This music drives, it serves to deliver the music that our lovely vocalist sends to us in song.
Outside the Shade talks about a segment of reality that is not everyday conversation. The musical vehicle is heavy, pounding metal. But the message is as pounding as the music. And it’s hard to separate one from the other. We begin with a lovely gothic instrumental selection, as so many European sounds do. But this is but a dark prelude, one that sets the stage for the mystery to come. There is an otherworldly direction here, a short intro that features the ethereal vocal that will drive the message in the coming selections. We know immediately that this will be a different ride. And different it is.
The title track Outside the Shade introduces our dire direction. The metal howls, our vocal line is straight from the darkest regions of the human experience, augmented by a male death vocal that is limited but significant. Audrey both sings and speaks here, and the message isn’t pretty. It talks about weakness, it talks about pain, it talks about fear, it talks about life. And it does it with a beauty only the French seem to be able to deliver. We are delivered to the regions of despair, where only the strongest can survive without pain.
Without Beauty is an even darker journey. Again, the metal howls, the banshees of despair are brought to life. Audrey provides a beauty, the male vocal provides the sinister, and both together take us to the realms of the underworld. Lyrically we hear:
All is falling down
There are only death and destruction
Powerless you're looking and walking
[So many blood]
In their blood spending on the floor
[All seems to be a nightmare
But there's no end, no escape, only death but I swear,
I won't give in to the temptation]
Storm takes us to even more remote regions. Again, the vocal is lovely, the music is thundering. We are taken to greater desperation. The guitars seem to take a harder turn, the pulse quickens. It’s as if we have approached a deeper region of hell, one where more desperate consideration of our reality is required. But the music continues to entrance, there are natural sounds that remind us that we have not entirely left our human domain. But that domain is not separate from the darkness that this Diary is here to explain.
Unbreakable takes a slightly different tack in delivering the message. We almost try to utilize a beauty here, at least initially, to deliver the message. But that deep male death metal quickly reminds us that beauty is only a distraction here. There is a dialog here, one side taking the hopeful, the other destroying it. It’s up to the listener to decide which side wins, and it’s an impossible decision. Hopelessness can take a beautiful appearance:
We'll crawl to you in silence
Without a warning
Don't trust this angelic face
We are bound and unbreakable
The EP concludes with The Other Side. Again, we work in dialog, the lovely female vocals contrasted with the harsh male vocal. This one seems to state their case. We hear some of the strongest female vocals here; we hear some of the heaviest guitar work here. This is where the statement is made, where the proof is submitted for approval.
Diary of Destruction continues the strong Gothic direction that drives much of the French Female Fronted Music scene. It takes us in a direction that many, especially the Americans, would rather avoid. And, it does so with a talented musical capability that is hard to ignore; and with a poetry that is even harder to ignore. This is only an introduction to this music, but like the initial Whyzdon EP, it promises a huge future. And it’s a future we can surely look forward to with great anticipation.
9 / 10
