Band:	ReVamp
Album:	ReVamp
Style:	Progressive metal, Symphonic metal
Release date:	May 26, 2010
A review by:	Ivor

01. Here's My Hell [feat. George Oosthoek]
02. Head Up High
03. Sweet Curse [feat. Russell Allen]
04. Million
05. In Sickness 'Till Death Do Us Part I: All Goodbyes Are Said
06. Break
07. In Sickness 'Till Death Do Us Part II: Disdain [feat. Björn "Speed" Strid]
08. In Sickness 'Till Death Do Us Part III: Disgraced
09. Kill Me With Silence
10. Fast Forward
11. The Trial Of Monsters
12. Under My Skin
13. I Lost Myself
14. No Honey For The Damned [bonus]

Ever since After Forever broke up, this album has been on my most awaited albums list. I awaited it even before it was hip and cool to await it, before it was known there would even be one. And my expectations weren't particularly low for it, to put it humbly. I mean, hell yeah! it's Floor Jansen singing! A brilliant voice - powerful, enjoyable and dominating. A voice I've enjoyed immensely for close to a decade. Yes, I'm a sucker for Floor's voice. However... do read on.

In general it's a decent symphonic metal album that I'd totally enjoy live. However, the album lacks the punch. The inevitable comparison with After Forever will easily reveal that. The production side is somewhat muddy, or muffled, whichever way you want to put it, and that is actually one of the first details that caught my attention. Like any proper symphonic album should, this one has orchestrations and choirs. It also has good underlying riffs, good background bass and keys support, nice drum drive, and, I have to remind it again, awesome Floor on vocals.

However, it still just doesn't work. But why? Not to question song writing skills, I must say that while the ideas and key elements are all there, they don't comprise a whole. Put handful of this, mix with a spoonful of that, in the end - add cinnamon. There! It's ready... No, it's not. The resulting mix is both, interesting and tiring at the same time. And while I dig Floor's vocals, and understand the desire to diversify her singing style, she doesn't seem to push the limits. The dominating impression is that she could do oh so much better. Even the name ReVamp that is probably hiding multiple intended meanings primarily kind of suggests a second-hand effort, a rekindled flame of the past. This impression is even more enforced by a lyrical theme dealing with loss. And yet...

And yet I've found myself listening to this album far more than I thought I would from the first impression. No, it doesn't grow on you. It stays as the first impression you get after a couple of spins. But there is something to it, something that needs to be listened to again. Slower songs that really bring out Floor's beautiful voice sound great, "Sweet Curse" with Russel Allen joining in for a duet is totally awesome - now there is a match in excellence. "In Sickness 'till Death do Us Part: Disdain," "Kill Me with Silence" as well as bonus track "No Honey for the Damned" have some really cool driving riffs that leave you in anticipation of hearing them again. And while there are more such memorable details, in the end they remain just a handful of moments without a context.

While in all honesty I admit I totally love Floor's vocals and would most likely enjoy them no matter what, the album itself is nowhere near to what it could or should be. It's not staggeringly awesome, and I don't say that because of my really high expectations for it. It's just what it is, unfortunately floating around somewhere in the upper layers of average. And even though it has it's moments, it still feels like it's been stitched together of undeveloped and underdeveloped ideas.