ReVamp

     When After Forever called it quits in 2009, after not having released any recordings since 2007, I knew that the members would resurface in other bands, it was eventual.

     ReVamp is comprised of vocalist, Floor Jansen (After Forever), keyboardist, Joost van den Broek (After Forever, Expedition Delta, Sphere Of Souls, Star One, and Sun Caged), guitarist, bassist, and notable  music producer Waldemar Sorychta (Grip, Inc., Voodoo Cult, Eyes Of Eden), and drummer, Koen Herfst.

     Having followed After Forever I also followed what the ex-band members were doing since closing the door on After Forever and moving on. I have Kiske/Somerville which Sander Gommans plays guitar on and I heard of ReVamp since Floor Jansen released the bands existance on her MySpace site. And Like Kiske/Somerville, my frequent music store, Budget CD’s, here in Missoula, ordered the CD for me without my having to ask them to because they knew I would interested in the band simply because I revel in all the old After Forever releases.
     I have had the CD since August of 2010 but have not reviewed it thus far because I wanted to get through After Forever releases before moving on to individual member releases. In the same way I did Nightwish and then started on Tarja‘s solo releases.
     Alas, a message on Poetry, Melodies, & Metal; left by a reader of the blog; that he hopes I review this album. And, that some of my posts are turning up ver-batim on other blogs around the world (thankfully giving the name of the blog and my internet call, zhadowlord, as the author), and, well, I really admire Floor Jansen‘s vocal ability, which, on this album shines.

     If you do not own this album then I will say that without listening to the music, by just opening the inlay card and looking through it, you can easily tell from the pictures alone that this is one eclectic album. Don’t worry about that though; After Forever changed their style with each release yet you loved them all. In ReVamp, Floor kind of does the same thing with each song.
     The album openers intro starts off sounding heavily influnced by Slayer (not as brutal) before toning down to a more SymphonicMetal sound and the singing starts – Floor sounds really close to Tarja Turunen in the beginning. You know, Floor has such excellent control of her voice that listening to this album, I could imagine her doing many different styles of music with no problem; be they classical or 1960’s hippie-folk music. You could not say that about many vocalists.

     The music, like Midnattsol‘s album Nordly‘s, reminds me of something I have heard but can’t quite put a finger on where I heard it before. Influences abound everywhere on this album. From Classical to Industrial without being kitch, ReVamp takes their influences and defines their own sound from the cacophony – it’s nice when musicians are confident and rounded enough to dare this; it has backfired on some who sound too close to another band.

Tracklisting for ReVamp:
01: Here’s My Hell*
02: Head Up High
03: Sweet Curse**
04: Million
05: In Sickness ‘Till Death Do Us Part 1: All Goodbyes Are Said
06: Break
07: In Sickness ‘Till Death Do Us Part 2: Disdain***
08: In Sickness ‘Till Death Do Us Part 3: Disgraced
09: Kill Me With Silence
10: Fast Forward
11: The Trial Of Monsters
12: Under My Skin
13: I Lost Myself
14: No Honey For The Damned

* George Oosthoek (ex-Orphanage) lends vocals and growls to this song.
** Russell Allen (Symphony X) sings with Floor here.
***Bjorn Strid (Soilwork) growls here.

     Overall, this is a good album with many different musical and vocal naunces. Assuming Floor is leading ReVamp; this band will only get tighter and explore different forms of music by incorporating into their own style, much like Floor‘s own sense of style and appearance.  

     Here is another review, but only of Sweet Silence, Russell Allen‘s duet with Floor. http://songdynamics.wordpress.com/2011/05/30/sweet-curse-revamp/]Revamp–Sweet Curse