Apparition – The Awakening

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The Awakening Cover

Apparition – The Awakening
WormholeDeath Records
Release Date: 02/02/2018
Running Time: 52:55
Review by Tsarina Wilson
9/10

Apparition are a band from the UK and their music is a mix of so many things. It’s rock, it’s operatic, it’s haunting but one thing it is, is brilliant.

This metal rock band formed in 1997 and David Homer (Bass) first started the band as a female voice project. In 2014 there was the addition of guitarist Amy Lewis and drummer Ashley Guest, also of Benediction and Besieged, followed by returning vocalist Fiona Creaby, also of Fallen Arise, who reunited with the band after 5 years away.

They began writing the material for The Awakening to follow on from various studio projects, including Drowned in Questions (2006), their previous successful EP The Salvation, which was released in 2008, and For Vengeance and For Love (2011).

They have travelled all over the UK and Europe as support band for well-known acts such as Septic, Revamp, The Agonist, Delain, and have appeared at festivals such as The Dames of Darkness festival (UK), Metal Over Malta (Malta) and the Kraken Festival (Belgium)

The 2011 album “For Vengeance and For Love” was well received and it was David’s idea was to record, mix, and master it all at Hertz Studio in Bialystok in Poland, with the well-known Wielawski Bros who have also worked with Hate, Vader, and The Foreshadowing, to name a few.

In 2015, guitarist Paul “Kull” Culley joined the band as co-writer, alongside David and Fiona. With mixing and mastering completed in 2016, planning the release became priority in 2017, when Apparition signed to WormHole Death Records (Italy). This coincided with 20 years of Apparition history and the release was due for early 2018.

Arranged and produced by Fiona and Kull, this album is just brilliant. The first track, The Awakening, being an instrumental, gives the listener a false sense of security, making you think it’s an ok opening for a great film track, then, boom, takes you straight into track two, Hold Back the Night and you certainly know you’re in for something special. The vocals are crisp and spine chilling, with drumming that will almost have you out of breath, and the guitar riffs are truly amazing. The songs take you on a ride of emotions, bringing you up, then calming you down, speaking of love, passion and loss but they are energetically put together and there is a great passion in the vocals.

The lineup of Ashley Guest (Drums), Fiona Creaby (Vocals), David Homer (Bass), Amy Lewis (guitars) Paul “Kull” Culley (guitars/sequencing) works so well together.

I love the artwork on the cover. After all, they say that the eye is the window to the soul and this band certainly gets to your soul. It doesn’t matter where you listen to this, it will give you goosebumps.

Track 8 “Home” is my favorite, as you can just close your eyes and melt away into it, making you grateful for what you have. Fiona’s voice is so gentle yet so strong, and the range of her vocals is out of this world. Although the tracks vary from soft and gentle to more rockier ones, the clarity of the vocals is never lost. The guitar riffs are wow, Ashley on drums is brilliant and the whole package just works so well together.

One thing I will say is you won’t get bored of listening to this album. It just keeps giving.

This album will very much be one I’ll be playing over and over.

TRACKLISTING:
01. The Awakening (intro)
02. Hold Back the Night
03. The Ames Of Darkness
04. The Other Side
05. Reasonance
06. The Night an Angel Died
07. Eternity
08. Home
09. Break the Chains
10. Our Story Lives On
11. Twilight
12. As Shadows Play

LINKS:

Apparition Promo Pic1

Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Tsarina Wilson and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to do adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.

LINKS:

 

Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of [user_login] and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.

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