Band:	Confidential
Album:	Devil Inside
Style:	Symphonic metal
Release date:	March 2022

01. Prelude To Resurrection
02. Devil Inside
03. Salvation [feat. Jake E]
04. Forever Angel
05. Release My Symphony
06. Historia
07. Queen Of The Dark
08. Brother Of My Soul
09. Prophecies
10. My Evermore [bonus]
11. My Kiss Of Death
12. Black Angel [feat. Madeleine Liljestam]

We might just be at the start of a fem-fronted symphonic metal renaissance.

To be honest, at the start of 2022, of the dozens of reviews I assumed I would write for the site, I did not expect to be covering any symphonic metal debuts, let alone two in the same month. However, it’s still less surprising than it would have been at the start of 2020; at that point, I would’ve struggled to think of the last album in the genre that genuinely intrigued me (trawling through our Metal Storm Awards archives, it might have been back in 2014 with Evenoire’s Herons). However, that year saw two bands worthy of a second glance appearing on my radar, with Ad Infinitum’s great debut record and Seven Spires making waves with Emerald Seas. Now, only a few weeks after Nocturna delivered some seriously enjoyable Nightwish worship on Daughters Of The Night, another contender enters the arena.

Confidential are a quartet from Norway, and considering their debut album Devil Inside was produced by Jacob Hansen and released on Massacre Records, there’s not much I can find in terms of previous presence in the metal world on the part of the founding members (although guitarist Frode Hovd is a founding member of Memorized Dreams and Aldaria). However, there’s some bigger names filling in the gaps on this album; Morten Gade Sørensen (Pyramaze, Anubis Gate) and Robert Myrhaug (Shining) share drum duties, Jonah Weingarten (also Pyramaze) handles orchestrations, and Jake E (ex-Amaranthe) and Madeleine Liljestam (Eleine) make guest vocal appearances on the record. These individuals help to bring founder and singer Astrid Mjøen’s musical vision to life, but it turns out Confidential’s members have the talent to justify the involvement of these esteemed guests.

I’ve mentioned the word ‘symphonic’ quite a bit so far, but it’s not an album that explodes with bombast; the orchestrations linger more towards the back of the title track for the most part outside of a few select moments, a track on which Mjøen establishes herself as a strong lead early on. Mostly eschewing operatics, she works in a more mid-ranged register, but has plenty of power to her voice, and pairs it with strong memorable vocal melodies across the album. The metal occasionally borrows from power metal, whether it’s the cheesy solos on the title track or bursts of speed on the likes of “Release My Symphony”, but it generally sticks to more mid-tempo speeds.

This album doesn’t win me over through speed or through extravagance; its greatest strengths rely in the quality of the vocals, the memorability of the songs and the effective atmosphere, which runs close to that dark majestic current that ran so enticingly through Ad Infinitum’s debut, as well as the likes of Kamelot. Other bands that flickered through my mind while listening included, along with usual suspects such as 2000s Nightwish, the likes of Triosphere, Seventh Wonder, Seven Kingdoms and Serenity, but I also know there’s probably better comparisons (which I feel like I’m writing in every other review now, I’ve clearly listened to too much music to be able to remember it all effectively). However, while Nocturna’s debut was completely indebted to their influences (specifically Nightwish), Confidential have more of their own presence to them on Devil Inside.

This translates to a very solid tracklist; after “Devil Inside” gets the album off to a strong start, Jake E makes a good contribution during the chorus of “Salvation”, “Release My Symphony” steals the show with its kick of speed and irresistible vocal hooks, and “Prophecies” marches with a sense of purpose and triumph. My main critique of the album would be that it gets bogged down during the middle with too many ballad-esque songs; “Historia”, “Queen Of The Dark” and “Brother Of The Soul” are three consecutive tracks starting with piano and soft, sad singing before slowly gathering some momentum, and while none of them individually is an issue, in combination they take some of the sting out of Devil Inside. Add in “Forever Angel” and “My Evermore” (listed as a bonus track, but I don’t see how you obtain the album without it) and nearly half the tracklist is ballad-oriented, and it gets a bit much. However, the album finishes strong with the double-punch of the symphonics-heavy “My Kiss Of Death” and sinister “Black Angel” (featuring Liljestam), the latter of which gives me Oceans Of Slumber vibes.

There’s room to work on album pacing, specifically not losing momentum midway through, but Devil Inside is a very decent first outing for Confidential, one that offers good moments throughout and has a couple of really quality tracks, particularly “Release My Symphony”. I’m not sure if I prefer this to Nocturna’s debut; Devil Inside’s less hindered by the nakedness of its influences and has a really nice aura to it, but Daughters Of The Night is sleeker, better structured and has some top-notch moments on it, so they come out fairly even. The main upshot of all of this is that I’m more interested in symphonic metal than I’ve been in over half a decade, so kudos to all the promising up-and-coming bands in the genre; Lord knows some of the frontrunners of the style could do with some serious competition given their recent form.