
Devil may cry. Twice.
-- Gallia --
13/08/2019
Stijn Daneels

Album genres:
■ | Symphonic metal |
Album artists:
■ | Yannick Maris | Lead guitar, compositions |
■ | Elyn Vandenwyngaert | Vocals |
■ | Davy Coningx | Rhythm guitar |
■ | Laurens Vandebroek | Bass |
■ | Dieter Vantilt | Drums |
Review written by Stijn "Metal Shredder" Daneels.
[METAL SHREDDER REPORTING]
I first
heard of Gallia last October when the band asked me to promote their charity
gig dedicated to Rode Neuzen Dag (our country’s version of the BBC’s Red Nose
Day event). Later on, Gallia contacted me again to present me their debut EP “Everflame.”
Do I need to say more? No, just shred.
[SHREDDING BASICS]
“Everflame”
is the debut EP of the Belgian symphonic metal band Gallia. It’s an independent
release sent to me by my Dutch buddies at Hard Life Promotion as well as by Gallia
themselves shortly before they joined HLP. Many thanks to both of you for
sending me the material.
One thing I
quickly noticed when listening to this EP is the overall variety in the six
songs Gallia have put out for their first release. Beginning with the guitar
heavy “Rain Starlight” and then moving on to the highly rhythmic “Devil’s Cry” and
the upbeat “Rise Of The Fallen.” Then comes the fast pounding “Papercuts,” the choir
chants of “Fight Of Fools” and finally the grunt filled “Frozen Sun.” And if
that wasn’t enough, all six tracks have their own orchestral versions featured
as bonus tracks!
Although
all songs have their unique traits, they all still share a consistent style
that’s similar to acts like Nightwish, Epica and Within Temptation. Heavy riffs
and beats combined with angelic vocals and plenty of classical music
instrumentation. And I’ve got to admit that Gallia’s musical presentation and
production are quite top notch. Like any competent symphonic metal band Gallia
managed to drag me in with their catchy lyrics and carefully balanced mix between
heavy metal and orchestra, resulting in a really cinematic set of tunes. All
produced in crystal clear quality and with a genuine knowhow and love for the symphonic
subgenre.
[SHREDDING VISION]
The “Everflame”
cover art features the Gallia guys and gal sitting in a cave and meditating
around a campfire. Pretty simple artwork, but I do like how the brightly
colored golden font and red lion of Gallia are in stark contrast to the overall
dark shaded cover photo. And who knows, maybe the campfire setting is a
reference to Nightwish. It’s well known that Tuomas Holopainen came up with the
concept and name of Nightwish while sitting at one such campfire.
[SHARPEST SHREDS & BLUNTEST BLADES]
“Devil’s
Cry” is a definite favorite of mine. I particularly love this track’s marching rhythms
featured in every element of this song. The pacing of Elyn’s vocals, the
pounding drum and bass beats of Dieter and Laurens respectively and the fanfare-like
guitar and symphonic arrangements from Davy and Yannick. It’s a catchy and badass
tune that I’ll certainly high-step and salute to! Also big props
to the orchestral versions of the EP’s songs. They’re truly epic,
high-production setpieces and without the vocals and heavy metal instruments,
they’ve become unique songs on their own. So basically you get 2 EPs for the
price of one.
There are
only a few minor issues I can tell about Gallia’s debut EP. For instance, I
felt that Elyn’s vocals were a bit too far down in the mix and as a result they
sometimes get lost among the guitar, drums and orchestration. And I also miss
an intimate ballad which is otherwise so common among symphonic metal bands
(think songs like Within Temptation’s “Our Farewell” or Nightwish’s “Walking In
The Air”) That would’ve made the package even more complete.
[SHREDDER’S SCORECARD]
8 ruby
lions out of 10. Despite Gallia’s early age and (likely very limited)
resources, they did manage to craft a powerful and varied debut that I can
warmly recommend to anyone who enjoys some symphonic metal bombast or just orchestral
music in general. And given the fact that you technically get two EPs in one,
that’s a nice big bang for your buck! Here’s the music video for “Rise Of The
Fallen."