Band:	Darkwell
Album:	Suspiria
Style:	Gothic metal
Release date:	2000
Guest review by:	iaberis

01. Pictures Of Strive
02. Blackheart
03. Ladies' Choice
04. Path To Salvation
05. Two Souls Creature 1: The Beginning
06. Two Souls Creature 2: The Salvation
07. Two Souls Creature 3: The Rejuvenation
08. Suspiria
09. Realm Of Darkness
10. Armageddon

"Darkwell" is a band from Austria that was formed in 1999. Their first album (and their best in my opinion) is "Suspiria," released in 2000 by the Austrian label, "Napalm Records."

By listening to this album, the first impression that someone gets is that their music is similar to "Tristania" and "Theatre of Tragedy." The differences here are the powerful female and the minimal male vocals. The sweat voice of Alexandra in combination with the dark, melodic sound, creates a melancholic, gothic atmosphere. This atmosphere is kept unspoiled during the whole album, despite male vocals in some songs which gives a glance of known gothic metal. This album may be one of the best in its kind, with almost all songs reaching the highest possible performance for a new band, like "Darkwell" in it's first steps into professional music.

From the first song, "Pictures of Strive" we receive a heavy metal guitar sound, that continues till the end of the album, with only the exception the song "Ladies' Choice" where the keyboard dominates. This musical journey ends with the song "Armageddon" where the lyrics imply the oncoming end. If there's a song that you may find extremely gothic and worthy to remember, without leaving the other not less remarkable songs in the dark, that is "Realm of Darkness." The only disadvantage of this album is the lack of imagination on the cover, but as people say, don't judge a CD by its cover; even the ugliest cover can hide true, pure music?

I strongly recommend it for people who like Heavy and Gothic Metal and it certainly deserves a place in your collection. If you haven't heard a song of this album, you should definitely dedicate ten minutes of your precious time to listen to it, and trust me, you won't regret it!