On disc: Trillium

 
 Alloy
 
- Claudia Ehrhardt -
 
 


 
 Tectonic
 
- Claudia Ehrhardt -
 
 

Tectonic

(Frontiers Records - 2018)



 
 

 

Amanda Somerville's Trillium is back! The American singer and her Dutch husband Sander Gommans present Tectonic, the follow up of 2011 release Alloy.



They kick off with Time To Shine, and that sums up the album - in a way. Amanda's vocal range makes the different songs shine.



 
 


At Stand Up the symphonic elements accompany Sander's guitars and meet Amanda's powerful vocals. Heavy riffs lead into the dark mid-paced tune Full Speed Ahead, but then symphonic elements are added. Amanda switches between timbres and it almost seems that it's another singer! Fatal Mistake is track with slow, almost balladesque passages and metal parts which are dominated by Sander Gommans' guitar.



Shards is another up-tempo rocker, take a look!




 


With Eternal Spring they close this chapter. The slow, keyboard-based tune sticks out due to Amanda's fragile vocals. Just beautiful!



Trillium offers a bunch of heavy, melodic tune which shine due to Amanda Somerville's incredible vocal talent! If you like symphonic metal, female-fronted bands, then it's time to check out Trillium's new album Tectonic!
    





 
 










Claudia Ehrhardt


  
up 










Alloy

(Frontiers Records - 2011)



 
 

 

Amanda Somerville mainly worked as a vocal coach the last years as well as some stuff for commercials. She also replaced Epica's Simone Simons at a US tour when Simone was fighting MRSA. Others might know her from projects she was involved with like Aina and the duet album with Michael Kiske. Now the blond singer is presenting Trillium which can be looked at as a solo album. She teamed up with musicians / producers Sascha Paeth and Miro, they hooked up with guitarist Olaf Reitmeier, keyboarder Simon Oberender and drummer Robert Hunecke. Sascha Paeth also played drums, bass, guitars and keyboards on this one.



The opening track of Alloy is called Machine Gun and even if it offers some slower passages the song is heavy, dark and modern sounding. The track Coward they did a video for, so you can check it out yourself!




 


Songs like Purge are pretty heavy, riff-based and probably not what you expect from Amanda. She keeps her vocal style variable and so creates different atmospheres within songs. A balladesque opening leads you into Utter Descension, but soon it becomes a heavy symphonic tune with a soaring vocal line. Nu metal-like riffs kick off Bow To The Ego, but then they give way to Amanda's voice. This time the tune combines modern sounds with Oriental scales. One of my favorites is Mistaken, a riff-based tune which partly has a melancholy edge. Scream It sounds like a soundtrack for some fairytale... But after the symphonic opening it explodes and introduces the only guest singer Alloy has, Jørn Lande. His powerful vocals meet Amanda's angelic voice. Very catchy. Pretty heavy is Path Of Least Resistance, especially drums and bass give it heaviness, the keyboard stays in the background most of the time but gives this one a symphonic edge, again Amanda's vocals vary from soft whispers to powerful singing. After Into The Dissonance they slow down for Slow It Down, a piano-based ballad. The closer is called Love Is An Illusion, another powerful track but with slow, melancholy passages.



There is no overly catchy tune, but the songs are all on a high level and have memorable melodies - just nothing sticks out. The albums heavier than one might expect and shows that Amanda Somerville can do more than angelic vocals.

 

 










Claudia Ehrhardt


  
up 







 
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