Dutch symphonic metal band Delain released their sixth studio album, “Apocalypse & Chill”, through Napalm Records on 7th February. It has been almost four years since the release of the last studio album in 2016, although the EP “Hunter’s Moon” had been released in February 2019. The Friday NI Rocks Show on 7th February included a promotional interview that had been recorded by the band’s founding member Martijn Westerholt. The tracks “Burning Bridges” and “One Second” have also been featured on the Show in recent weeks.
Keyboard player Martijn Westerholt had left Within Temptation due to illness, but in 2002 formed what would become Delain for a demo release. In 2005 he established the band properly along with singer Charlotte Wessels. Those two are the only remaining members from the original line-up and there has been quite a few different guitarists, bass-players and drummers in the band over the past fifteen years. There has also been a few guest vocalists as well, including Sharon den Adel, Liv Kristine and Alissa White-Gluz.
The band’s first three albums were released through Roadrunner Records – the debut “Lucidity” in 2006 was followed by “April Rain” in 2009 and “We Are The Others” in 2012. Delain then signed to Napalm Records for the release of “The Human Contradiction” in 2014 and “Moonbathers” in 2016. A live album was released in 2017.
Joining Westerholt and Wessels on “Apocalypse & Chill” are bass player Otto Schimmelpenninck van der Oije, guitarist Timo Somers and drummer Joey de Boer who have been with the band since 2010, 2011 and 2017 respectively. Guitarist Merel Bechtold, who left the band in 2019 after being a member for five years, appears, on the track “Masters of Destiny” and Yannis Papadopoulos from Beast in Black is the guest vocalist on “Vengeance”.
Check out the Delain website - http://www.delain.nl/
About “NI Rocks Recommends”
This is purely a personal recommendation and some information about the artist and the album; not a traditional ‘review’. Most of the recommendations posted are for albums that have been sent to us digitally by the record label or promoter. Quite often I’ve also bought the album on CD or vinyl as well and sometimes I just feel the need to post a recommendation for an album that I’ve bought myself. Essentially these are albums that I like and which I’ve played some tracks from on the Shows on Rock Radio NI!