A slow burner that needs time to grow.

If like me you’ve more than a passing interest in the progressive, symphonic or even gothic metal scenes, chances are you’ll already be more than familiar with the name of American born chanteuse Amanda Somerville. Thus far her singing and songwriting skills have been utilised to great effect by a clutch of high profile acts (Avantasia, Kamelot and After Forever to name but three) whilst last year her collaboration with former Helloween man Michael Kiske served only to fortify her already growing reputation within the ranks of a more traditional melodic hard rock crowd.

Released under the Trillium banner, ‘Alloy’ is the latest release to feature her dulcet tones, although in many respects it’s probably nothing like anything she’s ever done before ... indeed after several spins, it reminds me more and more of a curious mixture of a metal edged Lana Lane and a disaffected Evanescence, all seductively underpinned with an ethereal sense of theatrical melodrama a la the much missed After Forever or even Within Temptation. Written and conceived with the help and support of celebrated production team Sascha Paeth and Miro (Edguy, Kamelot, Rhapsody, Angra, etc.) and featuring handpicked guest performers such as guitarist Sander Gommans (ex After Forever), drummer Robert Hunecke (Heaven’s Gate, Luca Turilli), keyboard player Simon Oberender (Avantaisa)and vocal powerhouse Jorn Lande (who duets with Amanda on the gritty ’Scream It’), ‘Alloy’ is a rather eclectic beast filled with barbed riffs, offbeat idiosyncrasies and constantly broiling moods and tempos.

All gothic and whimsical one minute yet brimming over with raging angst and vitriol the next, tracks like ‘Bow To The Ego’, ‘Machine Gun’, ‘Mistaken’, ‘Justifiable Casualty’ and bonus track ‘Love Is An Illusion’ are certainly not for the faint hearted ... and therein perhaps may lie the main problem with ‘Alloy’. By anyone’s standards these songs are far from instant and take time and patience to digest properly before they relinquish their innermost secrets. The rewards are there to be had if you persevere; I’m just not sure in this ever more disposable age that enough people will be prepared to invest the time it deserves to get that return.

A slow burner that needs time to grow.

Dave Crockett