Band:	Whyzdom
Album:	From The Brink Of Infinity
Style:	Symphonic metal
Release date:	September 21, 2009
A review by:	Bas

01. The Witness
02. The Train
03. Everlasting Child
04. The Power And The Glory
05. Freedom
06. Escaping The Ghosts Of Reality
07. Atlantis
08. The Old Man In The Park
09. The Seeds Of Chaos
10. Daughter Of The Night part I
11. Daughter Of The Night part II
12. On The Wings Of Time

About one and a half years ago the young French band Whyzdom sent me their first demo for a review. Hooked after the first listen, I soon came to consider it one of the best demos I've ever heard. It still had a couple of flaws, but the potential the band seemed to radiate was enormous; their first demo already sounding better than most female-fronted symphonic bands could ever hope to be.

Since a short while I have Whyzdom's first album From The Brink Of Infinity and to be honest it felt like a severe disappointment. Vocalist Telya Melane didn't seem to have made any progress since the demo and even worse; my first impression of the full-length was that the songs on it that were already on the demo were by far the best tracks on the album. Now a few spins later I'll have to revise my opinion.

Whyzdom are still able to wipe the floor with most other female-fronted bands. The music isn't that easy to get into - notably due to the absence of the catchy choruses common in the genre - but it's well worth it. The core of their sound is the fantastic and varied keyboard-work, often complex and multi-layered. Great drumming and simple but effective riffing supports the synths and a few nice guitar solos round off the instrumental section. Above it we have the female vocals, which are usually the most important ingredient in similar bands. In Whyzdom however, I think despite some majestic passages where she really shines, Telya is the weakest part of the band. There are parts where she sounds awesome, yet most of the time her voice either doesn't sound strong enough, or doesn't support the music very well. The aforementioned lack of catchy choruses and refrains doesn't really help the vocal-section either.

Unfortunately the album also contains a fair amount of filler (with a running time of about 70 minutes cutting the weakest songs like 'Everlasting Child' shouldn't have been a problem) and the production isn't really top-notch either. Still From The Brink Of Infinity is a very strong album for fans of slightly progressive symphonic metal. This isn't the simple and catchy type of female-fronted metal like Nightwish or Within Temptation and needs some getting into, but the reward is well worth it. If the band and main songwriter Vynce Leff work a bit more on their writing skills and Telya works a bit more on her voice, Whyzdom could become a big name in the world of symphonic metal.The successor of After Forever? Very possible, time will tell.

Favourite tracks: 'The Witness', 'The Power And The Glory' and 'Daughter Of The Night Part II'