I felt very old and melancholic while listening to Averlanche’s debut album. Not because it’s in any way a depressing record, or because I’m getting old (“Mistress time” doesn’t differentiate. She is equally cruel to everyone), but because it sounds like it was written and recorded about 15 years ago. Back when Finnish symphonic metal kinda ruled the metalworld for a time. Heavily focused on the keyboards instead of guitars, and fronted by a strong female singer that sounds ready to smash the patriarchy. They very much sound like a young Nightwish to be honest, yet they still retain a fresh touch, but let’s start at the beginning:
“Life’s Phenomenon is the debut album of the Finnish melodic metal band Averlanche. Influenced by bands like HIM, Nightwish, Sonata Arctica and Stratovarius, Averlanche combines catchy melodies and beautiful female vocals with the sound of Finnish metal music from the 2000’s.
Averlanche’s keyboard player Antti comments: “For our first album we chose 10 catchy songs to introduce our band to the world. The captivating melodies give the album a nice drive and small details make it interesting to listen to.”
Vocalist Rebecca Spörl is originally from Germany, where she lived until she moved to Finland in 2014 to fulfill her dream of becoming a professional metal singer.
The album was produced, mixed and mastered by Hiili Hiilesmaa who has worked with bands like HIM, Moonspell, Sentenced and Apocalyptica. It was recorded at Studio Watercastle by Arttu Sarvanne.”
That’s the info-text I got for this record and it sums up this album very decently. So good in fact, that I now struggle to get this article an acceptable word-count, but I’ll be damned if I won’t try my best anyway!
All the songs from Imagined Nothing, right up to Hate are all incredibly well crafted and catchy, but therein kinda lies my big problem with this record: The tunes are all a little too similar. I’m now on my sixth listen, and I’m still having a hard time keeping those songs apart. The second half of the album is probably equally good as the first, but by now fatique is hitting me heavily. My solution was, to listen to the first half, then pausing for a while, before proceeding with the rest of the album. It’s not a good sign, when the record feels longer than it actually is (and 36 minutes shouldn’t feel long).
I don’t really like writing this stuff, because it sounds like the record is way worse than it actually is. I really think Averlanche is a band with big potential. They just need to be a little less careful and take some dares. I’m definitely looking forward to their sophomore record. But please take some dares guys!
Averlanche Official Website
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I like music. All of it. Except for schlager… And ballermann. Oh boy do I hate ballermann.
