Brazil has never been a stranger to the more brutal ends of the metal scales, this was the country which brought us Sepultura, Vulcano and Sarcófago after all. Throughout its fifteen years of existence, Semblant have been doing their best to add their name to this roster by carving their own little niche within the gothic metal world and this year has the Curitiba band returning with their fourth studio album, ‘Vermillion Eclipse’.
With this album, Semblant are continuing to deliver high quality gothic metal delivered through a pristine production which allows the music to stand tall with each nuance within the music able to be heard. Furthermore, what makes ‘Vermillion Eclipse’ so enjoyable are the dual vocal deliveries of Sergio Mazul and Mizuho Lin as they battle for musical supremacy, their voices intertwining whilst an undercurrent of excellent guitar work carries the album forward. Granted, this delivery may not be unique and plenty of bands have mastered the dual vocals. Yet, through tracks such as ‘Enrage’, ‘Purified’ and the title track, Semblant show that they are taking huge leaps and bounds in their music with the band having all the elements of Lacuna Coil, Delain and Within Temptation.
What Semblant have delivered here is a top-drawer album of gothic metal which takes a pre-prepared genre and creates a real beast with it.
