Demonic Symphony

Powerplay Rock & Metal Magazine UK

DEMONIC SYMPHONY “The Awakening”

This is exceptionally good, especially for a ‘new’ band. “The Awakening” is a tour de force that many established acts would be happy to have in their cannon.Just as signposted by their moniker, the band’s chief artistic output comesstraight from the classy classically influenced European scene. This ispowerful symphonic metal coloured by darkness, but not overrun by it.Musically this three piece is technically very clever and thanks to thisbeing studio work can deliver everything a five piece could do live. That is not to decry them for filling out their sound using common tricks of thetrade; it makes for a top drawer recording.The keyboard and guitars takes some very interesting paths, with Shushanoo’s break on “Down On The Road” being especially good. As are many of the other moments of individual and collective skill. The most noticeable of these is of course Darlana’s vocals. She has a voice that has a dark, rich texture that is up to the task of giving each song the right degree of menace, angst, or passion.As I mentioned before, Demonic Symphony is a class act, but if you are wondering about the first part of their name a careful listen to theirlyrics will prove it is no misnomer.

See www.demonic-symphony.de for details.

9 of 10 Points

IAN GUY LOCHEAD

Summary: DEMONIC SYMPHONY“The Awakening”Exceptionally good, powerful symphonic metal coloured by darkness, but notoverrun by it.

Harvestmoon Music
http://www.harvestmoonmusic.com/reviews/demonic_symphony_02.html (short version)

The Awakening
(2004)
Long version:

The historic German city of Mainz is home to Demonic Symphony, an up-and-coming melodic metal band that incorporates a significant amount of lightless atmosphere into their style. Having chosen a name that evokes an impression of bleak, icy metal with symphonic elements, the band actually only briefly resembles their moniker. Instead, they treat their listeners to catchy, hook-heavy metal akin to bands such as Whitesnake, Dio, and mid-'80s Heart.
The Awakening, which is the second demo from Demonic Symphony, kicks off with the very catchy "I Owe You Pain". Keyboards play a crucial role in the band's sound, but they are interwoven in such a way as to avoid being distracting or overpowering. On the leadoff track they provide not only a lush atmosphere, but lend to it a bit of a Middle Eastern sound as well. Frontwoman Darlana, who's vocal style resembles in many ways both Lita Ford and Doro Pesch, has a powerful voice and delivers the lyrics with plenty of punch. Her slight accent enhances the Gothic ambiance of the music, adding yet another layer to an already deep composition. "Down On The Road", my favorite track on the demo, draws on the band's '80s influences to give the song a familiar feel while keeping it from sounding dated. The majority of guitarist Tommy Gad's solos on The Awakening are crisp and brief, though well-played. Here, however, Tommy lets loose with a top-notch extended solo that is backed up by some groovy bass lines from Darlana. Definitely one of the high points of the demo. The title track, closing out the demo, is the most Gothic of the disc and finds the bands drifting closest to the image created by their name. Cheerless church bells open the track and give way to blistering riffs from Tommy, to which he sings in a processed voice that sounds nothing short of demonic. Darlana adds only occasional backing vocals on this track, her voice lending a soft melody to contrast with Tommy's growls. An up-tempo burner, "The Awakening" is one of the top tracks on the demo and leaves the listener yearning for more from this young band.
Demonic Symphony relies on exuberant keyboards, chunky riffs, heavy bass, and Darlana's distinctive voice to create their brand of Gothic melodic metal. They've succeeded on all fronts with The Awakening. Fans of this genre of metal will enjoy this demo, and I'm sure the band's next effort as well.
Reviewed 09/24/2005

Hard guitar riffs and supporting Keyboard-Sounds, deep growling bass-work and masterly drumming: Demonic Symphony from Mainz play Metal, but definitely a modern version in the style of Nightwish and Within Temptation. And this comparison suggests itself at the latest when bass player Darlana starts singing. The trio has really done a good job on their second five-track-CD; it is impressing how genre-typical sounds and arrangements succeeded. You’ll also find a disastrous thunderstorm plus the compulsory bells ringing in the background as a tribute to Black Sabbath, the mother of all Black/Death/Gothic-Metal-Bands.

DEMONIC SYMPHONY
The Awakening
Demonic Symphony is a trio from Mainz, Germany. “The Awakening” is a five song demo that showcase the talents of these three musicians. The CD starts with “I Owe You Pain” a song that is dominated by haunting keyboards and has overall a dark atmosphere. The keyboards play throughout the CD an important role and this contribute to the bands unique sound. The vocals are done by Darlana who also plays the bass and keyboards. She sings not in an operatic way like so many other female singers in metal these days but her mid range voice goes very well with the music. The band creates catchy melodic metal tunes without sounding cheesy. The closing “The Awakening” is the highlight of the demo. This heavy tune brings all the strong points of the band together in an epic song. The demo has a transparent and balanced production. Demonic Symphony is a band that can go places if they keep making this quality dark melodic metal.

Review von Rockeyez, NJ, USA 4,5 of 5 points
http://www.rockeyez.com/reviews/demo/demonicsymphony/rev-awakening.html
Demonic Symphony’s new five track demo was a pleasure to listen to; it has some cool melodies and beats. The music is dark but it is not Death Metal. The music is a mixture of gothic metal with dark lyrics.
The vocals by Darlana fit perfectly with the haunting keyboards and I really got in to this CD. “Life’s A Bitch” is a great song and has the right elements to make it to AOR radio. The music and vocals could fit into a lot of different genres of music from Hard Rock, Goth, and Symphony to even AOR.
You really have to listen to this CD to appreciate Demonic Symphony. Between the harmonies, keyboards, guitar work by Shushanoo and the arrangements of the song, it will leave you in pure amazement. Remember this is only a demo, but every track on it is fantastic!