Review Summary: Fallenmania, Part 28
Where is Fallenmania going like today? Well, considering the recent release of a few Nemesea singles and Halsey songs, more on those in later reviews, but also of Illumishade’s second album, it seems to be enjoying some kind of revival. I’m all for it, if I can get some good music out of it, and Illumishade seems to be on the right track.
Illumishade’s love of instrumental intros and interludes strikes again, with the pretty good, sweetly dark violins and synths of “Enter the Void”. And the first full song, “Elegy”, is just as good, with its explosive riffs and sort of haunted synths and vocals. This is one of the most convincing fallenamaniac tracks of the album, along with “Here We Are”, and “Hymn”, with their Going Under riffs and powerful choruses. The mixture of heavy riffs and otherworldly synths feels like Fallen taken up to 11, which, to me, is the purpose of Fallenmania.
And the purpose of symphonic metal, because this album is also a pretty good mix of metal and classical music. For example, listen to the heavier “Enemy”, with its wonderful vocal melodies and guitar solo, or the power metal riffs and catchy chorus of “In the Darkness”. Or the really cool, big, menacing riffs of “Cyclone” followed by sweet and crystal-clear vocals a powerful, a fallenmaniac belted chorus and a great guitar solo.
They sound good even when they’re taking more inspiration from Fallen’s poppier aspects, like on the catchy pop ballad turning to rock “Cloudreader”. Or on the softer track with great guitar effects “Fairytale”, where Fabienne Erni proves once again that she can make anything sound good with her pretty and powerful voice. This is an album that sounds really good in its key aspects. There are some nice heavy riffs, some really catchy choruses and a great vocal performance. It’s technically good just like its predecessor.
It also has some of the same problems as its predecessor, like its tendencies to repeat riffs and melodies, and to sound like a copy of a copy of fallenmaniac symphonic metal bands. I still have this underlying feeling I had about the first album: that it’s a technically good but artistically empty album that just copies every similar album that came before it. However, “Another Side of You” is in many ways more interesting than its predecessor, it has more interesting ideas, a bigger sense of experimentation. It’s also better performed and produced. I wouldn’t say I love it or Illumishade in general, but I found myself enjoying this album more than I expected. Since this is one of the latest fallenmaniac albums, what does it suggest about the future of this whole scene? Probably that we’ll get more fallenmaniac albums of varying quality and success, some very derivative and some with more personality, but always rather entertaining. And this is why I’ll keep reviewing more fallenmaniac albums, some recent and some older, as long as they’re interesting to talk about.
