Band:	Cadaveria
Album:	The Shadows' Madame
Style:	Avantgarde metal, Symphonic metal
Release date:	March 11, 2002
Guest review by:	The_Hellion

01. Spell
02. Declaration Of Spiritual Independence
03. In Memory Of Shadows' Madame
04. Circle Of Eternal Becoming
05. The Magic Rebirth
06. Black Glory
07. Absolute Vacuum

Is different a synonym of good, or bad? I guess for purists, it will be a synonym of bad. I'm (almost) never a purist or whatever word fits better for what I'm about to say: Cadaveria is different to Opera IX and fans of Cadaveria's former band might think this new project is not at the level or that she "sold out" or whatever. I'll write this review without making comparisons because I believe one of the reasons of starting a new project is probably to experiment something new (I know sometimes it does not apply), and to separate from certain style.

Cadaveria's singing goes from a clean melodic (and kind of innocent) voice to harsh growls. Also there are no flaws, or bad choice in her vocal work; she is an experienced and professional singer. Frank Booth does a great job on guitars. Riffs are cool and elaborate, and there are some noticeable influences in his riffs that I'll refer to again shortly. As for which genre they belong to, I can't tell, but one thing I know: This isn't black metal (although "The Magic Rebirth" will give us a glimpse of it around the five minute mark). On "Absolute Vacuum" (also around the five minute mark) there's a glimpse of nu metal, and the beginning of "Declaration Of Spiritual Independence" will make you picture the guitarist and bassist waiving their instruments from side to side as Iron Maiden used to do. I'm not implying they sound similar to this iconic band, I just want to point out the first riff in this song sounds kind of heavy metal. Let's notice that in these three examples, the guitar is the instrument that directs or gives shape to the songs. Definitely an album dominated not only by Cadaveria, but also by Booth's riffs.

The guitars are elaborate, and I like the fact that songs have several different riffs in them, although some songs like "Circle Of Eternal Becoming," "Black Glory," and the beginning of "In Memory Of Shadows' Madame" could use some melody of any type. The way the album is structured, another guitar would be the the right way to go.

The album lasts less than 40 minutes, so everyone could agree that it is rather short. Nevertheless, this debut offers good stuff. It might not be a perfect album and it might seem Cadaveria discuss the same topic in the majority of their songs, but overall, I say Marcelo Santos and Cadaveria made no mistake when they decided to start this project.

Fresh, original, tough, and experimental are some words that come to my mind to describe this album. And I think they were honest by releasing a short but solid album, rather than having a long recording with filler songs.