BLACK WIDOWS: Dark Side of Angel CD. All female Gothic Metal band. Check audio

Description

Black Widows Dark Side Of An Angel
Label: Recital Records
Catalog#: BOX008
Format: CD, EP
Country: Portugal
Released: 2001
Genre: Heavy Metal
Track list
1 Widow Her 4:27
2 Of Second Heart 5:36
3 Intro Expected 4:21
4 In Dearing 5:02

(C) Recital Records 2001
Barcode: 560 9330 4780 63

A Gothic outfit composed of four chicks. I know what you are thinking, how cliché right?! Dont run off just yet, stay a bit and you’ll probably get something out of it, unless you are not at all into Gothic Metal or bands that have women in its line-up.
This is a short EP with just four songs and a total just shy of 20 minutes
Widow Her starts with some keyboards and a chord being repeated until it shows its true nature just a couple of seconds later; here we have the best riff in the album. The song then progresses based on that same riff and were introduced to Rutes semi-operatic vocals. She does have a good voice and tone. Now the cool surprise comes near the 2 minute mark, when she suddenly unleashes her death growls. There’s something in her lower tone that just sounds demented, and which I dig a lot. So yeah, she plays the guitar, sings a bit operatic and has demented growls. On top of that shes the main songwriter and lyricist of the band. The song has a cool, almost neo-classical sounding, solo a bit before the end which sounds a bit overdone. But that doesn’t detract from the fact that this is the second best song here.

Of Second Heart follows and its a bit mellow, has some breaks in tempo where she suddenly alternates between singing styles, but the best parts are the keys through it, and the solo in the middle of the music, already showcasing some of the playing they would demonstrate on their full-length. Afterwards there’s another decent song with some more good usage of the keys to create atmosphere, as they do during the album, not being over present, just enough for an eerie feel. This is the more up-beat of all the tracks giving you some good neck action. The bass really shines in this one and its a good song.

So now to the closing track, In Dearing. I’ve got to say that this is one of the best songs they’ve ever wrote. A bit more up-tempo which really makes it shine.

The voice is up front in the mix followed closely by the string instruments, and I say string instruments because believe it or not the bass is pretty much present all the time. You can hear it throughout the album, only being buried a bit at times. It has a good metallic sound which is quite good to hear, and complements the music here very well.

All in all its a good EP and worth your money if you are curious about the band.