Review Summary: Fallenmania, Part 16
My quest to find every kind of Evanescence imitator has taken me to some interesting places. Today, we have one of the most memorable steps in that journey: a rock/metal band with a singer who often sounds exactly like Amy Lee. I’m not even sure how to label this album. Noctura is a very goth metal type of name, but for the most part, while their music has the same darkness and melancholy as “Fallen”, it lacks the symphonic or industrial influence. It’s “Fallen” played by a moody hard rock band. Despite not being as creative as their inspiration, they recreate the Fallen-vibe pretty well.
We begin with “Fade” and its nice Going Under riff. I like how, in the verses, Mandy Suiter’s voice follows the same frantic rhythm as the riff, although the chorus is not as memorable. Mandy’s voice is different from Amy’s, higher-pitched, but the last time she says “and I will be the one to watch you fade”, for a moment she sounds eerily like Amy.
And that won’t be the only track where she does that. “Die Another Day” is much more Evanescence-influenced, with its more melancholic tone, and Mandy’s lower singing voice, including some whispers. “Everything” is heavier, with more powerful and passionate singing. “Don’t Save me” has everything: the heavy Going Under riff, the sad, low-pitched verses and belted chorus, the mix of angst and defiance. The resemblance between Mandy and Amy’s voices had to do with a similar range, some similar notes, but mostly with their intonation. Mandy manages to enunciate, emote, go from quiet to loud in the exact same way as Amy Lee that, so that at times, they don’t just sound similar: you’d swear Amy was actually singing on this record.
Sometimes, her imitations get creative, or more interesting than you’d expect. “Bleeding For Truth” has a sort of sinister but catchy riff, strange and sinister deeper vocals, and a dark mood I like. It reminds of Evanescence’s darker, more creative songs, which tend to be my favorite. On the complete opposite end, there’s the cover of The Offspring’s “Gone Away”, redone as an Evanescence type of piano ballad. It sounds like a completely different song that still feels oddly familiar. If you don’t mind covers that sound very different from their originals, you’ll enjoy this.
I certainly like it more than the other ballad, “Forever Lullaby”. It’s nice, it sounds a lot like an Evanescence ballad, so it’s rather predictable. Similarly, “Venom” is another song with a Going Under riff and Amy Lee-esque vocals, exactly like the others. The big problem with this album is that it can get really repetitive, the songs blending together as a vaguely Fallenmaniac blur. I guess if your songs are already a little same-y, and you try best to sound like someone else, your music will feel even more repetitive.
That said, I enjoyed many things about this album. I like how well they managed to recreate Fallen’s vibe not with a whole lot of orchestration and industrial effects, but with a simple, heavy, moody and eerie rock sound. Mandy’s singing is pretty good, it has what’s so good about Amy’s singing. The rest of the band is good too, they can play some really nice riffs. The “Gone Away” cover is joining my list of favorite covers ever. That more than makes up for the album’s repetitiveness and derivativeness that some might dismiss as a lack of ambition. As a whole, this is an album I enjoy because it sounds good, in the same way that “Fallen” sounds good. It’s another band that did something pretty good with a Fallen-inspired sound. Like many of their peers, they disappeared after their first album, now that Evanescence isn’t as big anymore, but I’d say they had more potential than a lot of similar acts. This was a definitely enjoyable part of my Fallenamnia journey, which will keep going in many unexpected directions.
