ReVamp-ReVamp

When After Forever disbanded in February, 2009, singer Floor Jansen claimed that she would take this opportunity and form a new band. She said in an interview that she wanted this band to have a sound that was more fitting to the lyrics she wrote, because she felt that in After Forever, quite a few of the songs (soundwise) didn’t fit the lyrics she had written. ReVamp has the keyboardist from After Forever, and a few other musicians that have worked with Floor in the past. Many reviewers have claimed that ReVamp sounds no different than After Forever, which isn’t really a good thing. Others have said that Floor’s voice isn’t nearly as good as before, and that the songs are not creative and that the overall sound is mediocre. But then again, there is the crowd (which includes me) that enjoys ReVamp very much.

ReVamp’s overall sound is much heavier and darker than After Forever. The Dutch band has really pushed symphonic metal into a whole new realm. It sounds like they have mixed in some metalcore in with their sound, causing the more technical sounding guitar parts and drumming, as well as the sound of the guitar distortion. Floor’s voice has changed quite a bit, being slightly deeper, and having more of an edgy sound. The bassist in my opinion is the best musician in the band. He plays most of the songs with a five string bass, but in an interview he said that he played a couple of the songs using a six string bass (not stating what the songs were). The member who does the growling is not very good at it. I feel he should practice and work on it more so that he can develop his own unique vocal sound (like every good metal vocalist does). The band isn’t quite as tight as After Forever was. I feel that the band was put together very fast and came out with an album too soon. It would have been better if they took more time in perfecting their songs and practicing more times, as well as more thoroughly.

In this review, I will only talk about the song that is split into three very different parts. Part one uses a lot of symphonic and orchestral instruments, as well as a piano playing in the background throughout the part. The song has a very heavy sound with an exquisite combination of melodic melodies and dark, crunchy bass lines. I also think that the pianist did a fabulous job on his part, having a very technical classical sound. Part two is fast, dark, angry, and mean. That is mostly due to the fact that it features legendary vocalist Bjorn “Speed” Strid from Soilwork. The song is very technical, very fast, and it has a thrash metal feeling during some parts of the song, and has melodic death sounds in it as well. I would have liked it if Floor had worked on being more in tune on her singing in part two. Part three is my favorite part of In Sickness ‘Till Death Do Us, as well as being my favorite song off of the album. Mainly because it has an awesome beat, and that it has one of the most beautiful choruses I’ve ever heard in symphonic metal. They were very creative in the solos, the chorus is beautiful, changing keys almost every time the chorus is played, the overall sound of the song is very catchy, and you can tell that the band put a lot of effort into this part of the song. This is an excellent debut release and deserves a solid 17/20.