DISENCHANTMENT

Veil of Mist were founded in Reims in north-eastern France by Frédéric Carcelle and Jean-Baptiste Frichet as early as 2004. Like many smaller bands Veil of Mist also had to withstand various line-up changes. So it is hardly surprising that so far nothing more than a few demos were published (2006, 2008). With the current singer Amandine Rosselle was then worked hard on new material, so that the band now, twelve years after its founding, may present their debut album. DISENCHANTMENT was published in May as a digital release, the silver pieces follow in September / October this year.

An icy wind is heard, then strings are added, so starts the debut album with “Fané.” Later guitars and drums are added and the enchanting voice of Amandine Rosselle leaves the song on their mark. The melody is quiet and contemplative. Now and then powerful guitar and double bass sound from the speakers. In “Scarecrow” the pace moves a little, the vocal lines are applied a little deeper and sound more pleasant. At the end you will hear a filigree played guitar solo. As “Fané” is also the bonus track “La cohort Des Esseulés” sung in French and English. The song starts with a beautiful guitar intro before the double-bass can attract the pace. After a melodic solo, the guitars are banging again right from the speakers at the end.

Even with the next songs, the quiet and calm melodies already described can be heard, the drums with occasional double bass passages provide for some heaviness and the almost casually interwoven guitar passages and occasional banging riffs show that here are excellent musicians at work. That there is another way, show Veil Of Mist i. a. in “Weight Of Regrets.” A pretty quickly played song that really rocks and ends with a truly ingenious guitar solo. And of course in the two final songs “Shareholder Of Your Ruin” and “I Shall Not Die Alone” on which Eddie Risdal from the Norwegian gothic metal band Ancestral Legacy contributes the growls and thus provides for an interesting splash of colour.

With DISENCHANTMENT the musicians from the province of Champagne succeeded a good debut. The sound is mainly quiet, almost contemplative. Singer Amandine Rosselle moves mostly in the middle pitches, so that the singing differs quite genially from other bands of this genre. Over the total playing time of the album I miss a little variety, one or the other surprise. Exceptions are only the two final songs, or the already mentioned “Weight Of Regrets” and the brief interlude “Pretium Doloris.” But that’s whining at a high level. The five musicians can rightly pop the corks of champagne bottles.

VEIL OF MIST – Disenchantment (full album teaser)

Lineup:

Amandine Rosselle – Vocals
Cédric Vassal – Guitars
Frédéric Carcelle – Guitars
Jean-Baptiste Frichet – Bass & Programming
Manuel Leroy – Drums

Label: Valkyrie Rising

Out: 30.09.2016 (France) / 21.10.2016 (Germany, Benelux) / 13.05.2016 (Digital Release)

Duration: 58:36

Track list:

• Fané

• Scarecrow

• La Cohorte Des Esseulés*

• Sham Existence

• Weight Of Regrets

• Heiress To Melancholia

• Ghosts oOf Winter

• Pretium Doloris

• Death In Your Eyes

• Shareholder Of Your Ruin

• I Shall Not Die Alone 

  * Bonus Track

Release date: 21-10-2016
Reviewer: Rainer Kerber
Score: 8