CHARLOTTE WESSELS
The Obsession
According to Greek mythology, the phoenix is an immortal bird that cyclically regenerates or is otherwise born again. The phoenix is born again from the ashes of its predecessor. Almost the same can be told about CHARLOTTE WESSELS that, after parting ways with Delain, has now a new life as a solo artist.
While she technically has released already two compilations under her name, “The Obsession” is the first official full-length by the Dutch singer. The obvious strength of this amazing artist is her voice, that is capable of shaping and adapting to whichever mood she pleases effortlessly. Like in “The Exorcism”, Wessels‘ soft and delicate tone that alternates with her screaming vocalization shows what a versatile talent she has.
The poignant and layered lyrics contribute to enhance this record even more: she makes the listener focus on the exact meaning of what she wants to deliver, and we can’t do anything but follow her until the end of time. We have to travel on this path, and I’m pretty confident it will reach many great things, after a lot of troubles and deviations.
The production, mixing and mastering are very well done by some of the best professional artists that the metal music industry has to offer, and yet they seem to give to the album a more progressive and lighter vibe that perhaps of what was intended. In any case, the work is faultless and that is just my personal preference.
Miss Wessels has chosen two top tier special guests for her first official full-length, and she picked two of the most wonderful female colleagues. Alissa White-Gluz of Arch Enemy and Simone Simons of Epica are a further reason (if you ever needed another one) to listen to “The Obsession”. Simons, with her operatic timbre makes a good contrast to Wessels‘ clean and bright voice, and the same but opposite contrast is being achieved with White-Gluz.
Although the album sounds constant throughout the 50 minutes, there is unfortunately a risk that the tracks mix too much together due to their shared structure and tone. “The Obsession“ as a whole doesn’t have the dynamic range that could keep the listener completely interested, and this lack of variation makes the songs feel a little repetitive. This could be done intentionally to make the record more compact, or perhaps this is something that was not done right on purpose. Which is why the almost gospel vibe of “Praise” is a breath of fresh air during our listening experience: finally Wessels is ready to experiment and include in her tracks something that is unexpected.
Something that we must also notice is that the album explores dark and difficult subjects in great detail, with escape, dread, and compulsive thinking pervasive throughout. Such unadulterated and uncomfortable feelings are not-so-common in the music landscape, therefore “The Obsession“ stands out for its courage to tackle such heavy topics. Every song has at least a mention of these emotions, evoking an image of inner conflict and the quest for escape. The album has a spooky, almost cramped atmosphere where these feelings are simply unavoidable. We have to face them straight on, and perhaps we will have a chance to escape.
In conclusion, Charlotte Wessels is returning on the scene with a very good product that can be appreciated by even the novice heavy metal fan. While you’re here because you loved her time in Delain or you have just discovered her music, “The Obsession” will not disappoint you.
Benedetta Baldin