Review Summary: Fallenmania, Part 31
This may not be the typical Fallenmaniac. It could be described as a sort-of-originator copying the band that probably copied them, after said copycat got famous. By now, you’ve probably heard every hacky opinion about how Evanescence copied the biggest gothic metal bands, especially Lacuna Coil, but the band I would consider the true proto-Evanescence is the lesser-known prog/goth metal band Brave. Of course, there still are some obvious differences between them. While Brave’s first album was a fairly typical prog/goth release (a Dream Theater of Tragedy, if you will) with only a couple songs that feel like a precursor to Evanescence, this second album from 2008 is where the similarities between both bands became obvious. And it’s such a wonderful album that I won’t describe it as ripping off your rip-off, but as two similar sounds coming together.
“Monuments” brings the vocals only after a few notes, on the first track “Hold On”, which kind of feels like a story beginning in the middle of a sentence. But if you can get past that, it’s a pretty catchy song, somewhat simple for a prog metal track, until the beautiful violin solo in the middle, and the sudden acceleration of the riffs followed by more energetic violin playing. Other songs have a similarly elaborate sound, with great violin work and irresistible melodies.
“Without You” starts more upbeat, but then adds much more melancholic vocals, and a nice melody. “Driven” is the album’s fastest and heaviest song, its electric guitars with no violins contrasted with the last line of the chorus “I will help you leave, on the wings of a butterfly”. “Hurt” has some really good guitar work, beginning with distorted, simple riffs that suddenly add way more notes, then turn into a sort of Going Under riff, while Suvo Sur keeps playing the hell out of his violin and Michelle Loose sings another catchy melody, which, in some parts, due to her enunciation, intonation and alternating between low and high notes, sounds a lot like Amy Lee. “Here” is a nice violin and guitar ballad with vaguely Amy-like singing, but there are more interesting moments of Fallenmania.
“Something to This” combines industrial sounds with heavy riffs and melancholic violins, with a sad and powerful chorus. “Forgiveness” is probably the most obviously fallenmaniac track, with its soft and melancholic instrumentation suddenly turning into a heavy, distorted riff, and Michelle’s phrasing, the power and sweetness in her singing, sound almost identical to Amy. It really shows the beauty of her voice and it’s one of her best vocal performances on the album.
“Hero” has some sweet violins and an immediately catchy chorus where Michelle croons about needing a hero to rescue her, until the last verse where the song suddenly goes faster, with heavier riffs and dark violins. It’s a very enjoyable track that feels like an even better version of the best “Fallen” tracks, with its particular combination of instruments and desperate, romantic vibe. This is one of my favorite tracks, along with “Forgiveness”.
“To Remain Unseen” is an instrumental, and the most progressive, beginning with an acoustic guitar before adding heavy guitars, dark violins and eerie choirs. It’s Fallenmania goes prog metal. “Sooner or Later” is more of that, with heavy riffs and powerful vocals. It has some pretty good guitar work, but the most ambitious song on the album is the last track, “Stronger”. During its 8 minutes, the track goes from gloomy keyboards to soft but dark guitars, which suddenly turn heavier and kind of sound like “Another Brick in the Wall” while Michelle sings softly over them, until the really good guitar solo and sweet, melancholic outro. The perfect conclusion to this wonderful album.
This is some really beautiful music, with a great singer and great instrumentation, full of an atmosphere that needs to be described with an abundance of words like wistful, romantic, pretty, melancholic. This is a particularly good album, but Brave have over great songs, and my exploration of their discography and other Michelle Loose projects has been a delightful experience so far. I chose this album specifically because it’s the most obvious example of the resemblance between Brave and Evanescence.
Then, should I change this series’ name to Bravemania? Not sure, because other fallenmaniacs tend to copy Evanescence much more blatantly than Brave, as both bands are different in key aspects. Again, on their previous album, and the one after “Monuments”, Brave is more of a goth-tinged progressive metal band whose singer happens to sound like Amy Lee. Until Amy publicly admits being influenced by Michelle, I’ll have to call that a mere coincidence. I guess that only one person can sing like Michelle Loose, and her name is Amy Lee. Just like “Monuments” is the only moment where their respective styles met, and this is, as far as I know, the only prog fallenmaniac record. This might change one day, but for now, we can appreciate this unique and very well-made album, by a band that indirectly influenced Fallenmania and then made one if its best albums.
