Ever Since - Between Heaven And Hell
Quam Libet Records

file under gothic metal

Twan: A long while ago I encountered the band Ever Since. Since the release of that album, Fight The Elements, this Swiss band has had to deal with a couple of changes in lineup. As a result their new release, 'Between Heaven And Hell', appears to be of a whole new band. The genre is unchanged and is still being refered to as 'dark metal', but within that label there appears to be a lot of room.

Most remarkable are the additions of female vocals, by singer Ludivine, who manages to impress a whole lot, and a small stap in the direction of industrial influences. The raw guitar sound with a little heavy metal point of view is still present, but they are alternated by and added upon by beats. And as always, the keyboards are represented extremely well in both the mix as the compositions; and I have to remark that Ever Since actually makes a broad range of both keys and vocals pass by.

I noticed once again that I enjoy the up-tempo parts more than the more quiet songs. These last bits are focused a lot on the vocals of Ludivine. These vocals are good, but musically it's a little too much of a resting point. After quite a few spins in my CD player more and more it shows how rich 'Between Heaven And Hell' really is. Three sets of vocals (female vocals, grunts and male clean vocals) do give a lot of options.

Go listen this record. I think that once again the only thing holding back these people is the lack of so-called 'hit material’ the songs are all very rich and complicated. But I bet that this is the way they like it at Ever Since.

Rating: 85/100 (details)

http://www.eversince.net