Review Summary: why not?
Opera often strongly influences symphonic metal, either from classically trained vocalists, or a symphonic, dramatic undertone. However, it is exceedingly rare for such vocalists to unleash their full capacity. They usually prefer clean sounding vocals, and only occasionally bridge into more operatic singing (for example, Simone Simons). Well, there is a certain anomaly as of late, and her name is Chiara Malvestiti. As evident by the name, Crysalys are from Italy! What you may not have guessed, however, is that this album harkens back to the roots of Italian opera. Such a concept may sound frightening, but believe it or not, Crysalys do it much justice. With the assistance of an unusually strong female vocalist,
The Awakening Of Gaia is quite an intriguing listen.
The Awakening Of Gaia feels like the natural progression that the symphonic metal genre should have taken years ago. After all, it is an entirely drama obsessed genre, so why not go all out? There’s no flirting here, no inconsistent or embarrassed dabbling – this is unadulterated opera-meets-metal. Why not throw in spoken words once in a while? Why not compose the music to sound like a cinematic masterpiece? These are the types of questions that Crysalys answer with not a hint of shame.
I’ve heard a lot of overly theatrical metal bands in my life time, but this one takes the cake. Every second is more bombastic than the last, with heavily distorted guitars, a ridiculous, spacey atmosphere, added electronics, etc. Crysalys throw everything on the table at once, and expectedly, the soundscape is overwhelming. I can’t imagine the type of person that would like this (aside from me), but I’m sure it will appeal to some people. If you like this kind of stuff I’d recommend it, but for everyone else, run as far away from it as you possibly can.
