I first came across Eleine when a friend of mine posted a video of theirs on FaceBook and I was immediately enamoured, so when the opportunity came about to review their third album, I grabbed it. The band was formed by lead vocalist Madeleine Liljestam and guitarist/growler Rikard Ekberg back in 2014, and they followed it with their debut album of heavy dark symphonic metal the following year. They toured with the likes of Moonspell and W.A.S.P., and their breakthrough was with their second album, ‘Until The End’, which was released in 2018 and quickly made it to #1 in the Swedish album sales charts.
This led directly to them touring Europe with Arch Enemy, but the proposed tour with Myrath fell through due to the Covid pandemic, and they are now back with the third album, ‘Dancing In Hell’. The other two members of the band these days are Anton Helgesson (bass) and Jesper Sunnhagen (drums) plus there is orchestration and a choir as here we have a symphonic metal band with real balls. The obvious comparison will be with Nightwish, but here we have a much more guitar and riff-oriented band, with the symphonic elements important but not always overbearing. Much has been made of Madeleine having a separate career as a model, especially with tattoo magazines, but unlike many female artists in the pop world, she can sing. Really sing. The symphonic elements add additional depth, the foundations are rock solid, the guitarist is a monster with huge riffs who sounds at times as if he has been as influenced by Kerry King as he has by the more mainstream, and then right over this metallic onslaught are the wonderful vocals of Madeleine. She does not belt as much as Floor, nor does she go as high, but instead is very an element of the overall sound, both driving and being driven.
I was blown away when I saw the video, and I am so please this new album more than delivers. This is symphonic metal with a fair push on both sides of that equation and is well worth discovering.
Rating: 9/10
