
El cuatro de cuentos de hadas
-- Fabulae Dramatis --
09/07/2021
Stijn Daneels

Album genres:
■ | Avant-garde metal |
Album artists:
■ | Maxime Moreira | Drums |
■ | Isabel Restrepo | Vocals, programming |
■ | Daniel Dïaz | Guitar |
■ | Loni Cornelis | Violin |
■ | Bram Van Weverberg | Accordion |
■ | Hamlet | Vocals, bass |
■ | Andrés Camilo Silva | Arrangements, piano, programming |
Review
written by Stijn "Metal Shredder" Daneels.
[METAL SHREDDER REPORTING]
Fabulae Dramatis is a band that I’ve been following for a few years since reviewing their 2017 album “Solar Time’s Fables” a very long time ago (read it here: https://www.belgianmetalshredder.be/reviews/74).Over the past months the band has been keeping me actively posted about their current activities and they invited me to pre-watch their brand new music video for “Roble para el corazón (Wood)” which is now available for everyone to watch and listen to. And Fabulae Dramatis requested me to give my thoughts on their newest visual endeavor, so here goes the shredding! Vamos![SHREDDING BASICS]
“Roble para el corazón (Wood)” is the fourth single and subsequent music video from Fabulae Dramatis’s second album “Solar Time’s Fables.” The song itself is a pretty special song in the band’s already varied discography, since most of the song is in Spanish and features tango-dance tunes. Unlike most of Fabulae Dramatis’s other songs, this tune is particularly peaceful and soothing in terms of beats, vocals and atmosphere but eventually the heavy riffing that’s an equally important part of Fabulae Dramatis’s sound emerges to harmoniously play along with the other, already present instruments. A sweet tune overall that would fit very well as music for a tender and passionate love dance with a nice touch of heavy metal.
As always,
Fabulae Dramatis managed to provide a beautiful harmony between the usual metal
elements and unusual melodies, vocal deliveries and instrumentation. It’s
exotic, but it still feels strangely familiar for a headbanger like me. And if
you like metal tunes that isn’t afraid to push boundaries then Fabulae Dramatis
is one sweet band to check out. And now it’s time to talk into much detail
about their music video.

[SHREDDING VISION]
As with
their previous music videos, Fabulae Dramatis has once again made a colorful
and intriguing mini-movie using little resources but a ton of creativity. The
whole music video takes place in a single, dimly lit room only featuring the
band’s leading lady Isabel (wearing her signature horned helmet and clawed
gloves) and the Harlequin character who was also featured on the cover of the
band’s 2012 debut album “Om.”
The video
switches between images of Isabel performing some magic tricks with an
hourglass underneath a glass bowl and the Harlequin character waking up and
exploring the decaying room (decorated by plant roots, apples and Venetian
masks) before finally eating a (poisonous) red apple. There are also a couple
of stop motion effects including a dancing couple made out of tree branches.
The video
features many visual references to what I believe are classic fairytales,
including Snow White, Beauty and the Beast, Rapunzel and Sleeping Beauty. The
passage of time is also a prominent theme as well as the power of nature to
reclaim its grounds after the humans have passed away.