Whilst they will undoubtedly become pigeon holed alongside the likes of Within Temptation, After Forever, Epica and other such female-fronted exponents of velvet and black lace clad metal, it has to be said they don’t actually sound like anybody else. To their credit they haven’t analysed the formula and set about complying with the sounds and arrangements which have brought success to some of their European counterparts, but have gone for creating a sound and mood very much their own.
One aspect of their music which demonstrates a laudable bravery is that they are not afraid of quiet. The songs on ‘Seas of Blood’ feature frequent passages where singer Cruella delivers her vocals in barely more than a whisper accompanied by a single piano with perhaps an occasional chime from a cymbal or other punctuation from the drums. Nowhere is this more in evident than on ‘My Undead Friend’. The quietly intense minimalism and introspection in this song is atmospheric to the point of being almost uncomfortable. Elsewhere they demonstrate an accomplished ability to deliver epic bombast as in the oddly named ‘Nidhogg’ the tale of a powerful dragon. ‘Lovely Lies’ features some supremely tight rhythm work between drummer Runtt and bassist Jack Doran whose relationship is one of By Blood Alone’s major strengths.
Everyone in the band is clearly an accomplished musician in their own right and demonstrates imagination and creativity, but the rhythm section possesses two qualities which are rare to find at the same time in a metal band; precision and finesse. With the powerfully tasteful guitar compositions of John Graveside and the powerful, emotive vocals of Cruella it would seem that By Blood Alone have everything in place for launching a very successful career. The only down side is the production on ‘Seas of Blood’. Occasionally the epic scale of the work can be sensed as in ‘Lovely Lies’ and ‘Seas of Blood’ but more often a lot seems to be missing. The guitar sound is frequently thin and rather flat and album opener ‘Serpentarius’ does sound as though it’s being played through a practice amp. Besides this, it also highlights a keyboard sound which is frankly “Casio” in its reediness.
Everything about this band indicates that they have “got it” and probably in bucket loads, even the artwork is great with its stormy almost Turner-esque depiction of a ship foundering in a dark stormy sea. It’s just a shame that the production fails to match the scope of their vision and aspirations. Musically, By Blood Alone are definitely a name to look out for in future and the strength of their compositions makes ‘Seas of Blood’ a solid and interesting release. It is tantalising to think what could be done with the album with a little judicious re-recording and re-mastering though …