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"The Spell" is the second full length studio album by the Swiss progressive metal band Cellar Darling. It was released on 3 March 2019 by Nuclear Blast.
‘The Spell’ is a concept record that sets out to tell a dark fairytale for the modern era through intricate and heavy progressive folk rock. It weaves the story of an unnamed girl who is born into a world suffering from the damage and pain inflicted upon it by the humans that inhabit it. We follow her as she searches for the meaning of life until she meets and falls in love with death.
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The use of traditional wind instruments, like flutes, as well as Murphy’s trademark hurdy-gurdy, have become integral to the bands unique sound, and Cellar Darling wisely carry these core components across for the ‘The Spell’. However, if they retain much of what their fans hold dear musically, there’s a rather notable shift around the songwriting. If ‘This Is The Sound’ exuded a playful innocence, ‘The Spell’ takes a much more stern, self-serious approach. If ‘The Spell’ delivers music with great impact at times, at others, it struggles to find its emotional and musical pay off.
“Freeze” serves as a case in point of where ‘The Spell’ simply thrives. It’s opening moments seduce the listener with an isolated vocal hook brilliantly delivered by Murphy. By the time “Freeze” hits its full, hard rock yet slugging swing, it’s almost impossible not to fall in love with the song. Similarly, if uniquely different in execution, title track “The Spell”, driven once again by Murphy’s undeniably strong vocals, displays Cellar Darling at their current best, flavored, by a transitional hurdy-gurdy solo that recalls the bands folk roots.
At times ‘The Spell’ flows with relentless energy and spirit that’s utterly irresistible. At others it requires an almost insufferable amount of patience and thinking, feeling overly progressive for progressive’s sake. A slow burner with a lot of heart, and with just a sprinkle of magic in places, Cellar Darling’s sophomore record offers much to be enjoyed, a little to be forgotten, and a lot to be debated.
Reviewed by Carl O'Rourke for metalwani.com.
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