lyriel paranoid circus

Released: 01 February 2010 Label: Femme Metal Records

Lyriel, are a German based Celtic Rock band and have been around since 2003. Paranoid Circus is their third release in that time, which isn’t exactly prolific.

The sound produced by the band on this album is reminiscent of the vocals of Candice Night (Blackmores Night), the drums and guitar sounds of almost any other heavy rock band and the traditional instruments of four beards, three Arran jumpers and a kilt. The end product, soundwise at least, achieves a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. Each song is well constructed, production is good, the blend of styles works mostly well and Jessica Thierjun provides beautiful, clear, rich and intricate vocals that sound effortless, regardless of where she is in her range.

The album opens with a spoken intro from guest speaker Simon Jäger, welcoming us to the album in a slightly ‘cabaret’ style. There’s a touch of theatre about the early tracks, where Welcome and Feather in the Wind are up-beat and pacy, leading on from that spoken intro.

Just when you think the album is settling down a bit, becoming gentler, although always with the promise of crushing riffs lurking in the background, along comes some Elderberry and Lavender to assault your senses as the heaviest track on the album.

From here on, the songs vary between a Celtic sound and a sort of Euro-rock experience, but with no real purpose about it.

The title track combines all of the attributes we’ve heard so far; the flowing vocals, celtic melodies, ripping guitars. The overall effect is one of aspiration towards epicness, but not actually quite reaching it. I guess the nearest description would be like someone playing a cover version of an early Nightwish classic, but without orchestration or operatic vocals. We can hear what the band are trying to achieve, but we also note the gap in aspiration.

The comparison with early Nightwish is emphasised on Wheel of Fortuna, especially in the keyboard sound, and again in Way to Nowhere, only this time with the film score type intro.

There is a mix of theatrical, intricate songs, sweet and gentle celtic style songs (flowers optional), and darker, heavier songs.

Elderberry and Lavender stands out as the heaviest track, but there’s no other track that stands out for any reason, so that’s good, because that means there’s nothing that’s really dreadful on it. On the other hand, there’s nothing on it that makes you want to adopt it as a ring tone.

Every song on this album, taken in isolation, is pretty good. I like all the songs. Some of them are really pretty. As far as the album is concerned, it starts to get a bit dull by about halfway through, which is a shame. The pace and arrangements of the songs are nicely mixed up, each song is individually strong, but together, it lacks a bit of direction, as if the band can’t quite make up their mind what they want to do.

One of the risks of crossover sounds is that the band can lose direction, as if they are not sure whether they are a metal band or a folk group. It needs really tight control of the music and the production to avoid this trap. This writer is not convinced that Lyriel have achieved that balance on this album. That doesn’t make it a bad album, but it does get in the way of it being a really good one.

by Alan Thomson