General Delain Chat

Biography

Lucidity is the impressive debut album of Delain, a unique gothic rock project initiated by (ex-Within Temptation) keyboardist Martijn Westerholt. He has surrounded himself with a number of extremely talented musicians such as Finnish bassist Marko Hielata (Nightwish, Tarot), guitarist Jan Yrlund (ex-Lacrimosa) and Norwegian vocalist Liv Kristine (ex-Theatre of Tragedy, Leaves' Eyes). A number of renowned Dutch rock musicians contributed to the project as well: singer Sharon den Adel (Within Temptation), guitarist Ad Sluyter (Epica), drummer Ariën van Weezenbeek (God Dethroned) and singer George Oosthoek and guitarist Guus Eikens (ex-Orphanage). Delain has room for new talent as well: the young and relatively unknown singer Charlotte Wessels (ex-To Elysium) contributed most of the vocals on the album.

Imagine this: you have been part of a band for five years, and when they finally break through, you are unable to reap the fruit of success! It happened to Martijn Westerholt. From 1996 until 2001, he was a fulltime member of Within Temptation, by now one of the most successful and internationally renowned Dutch rock bands. While his brother Robert and his fellow Dutch goth-rockers set out to conquer the world, Martijn was forced to leave the band because of a chronic illness. But he did not give up. As soon as he was physically fit, he began to write songs again, at first just as a way to pass the time. But it felt so good that his desire to make music on a professional level got stronger everyday. Slowly but surely, his idea for a musical project began to take shape.

Martijn made a wish list of talented musicians and began to contact each of them personally by sending out demos and making phone calls. Sooner than he'd expected, his wish list began to materialize into a project of international standing. He called it Delain, inspired by the kingdom of Delain from Stephen King's The Eyes of the Dragon.

In July 2005, Delain signed a recording deal with Roadrunner Records, the ultimate metal label and the ideal partner for Delain because of their international contacts and knowledge of the genre. Soon afterwards, Delain started recording their debut album in Germany, Finland, Sweden and The Netherlands with Oliver Phillips and Martijn himself at the production desk, whereas Stefan Helleblad (Opeth, Rammstein and Dark Funeral) did the final mixing.

Delain is an exceptional band because of its project-like set-up. The many musicians and vocalists on Lucidity have all left their mark on the music. "I wanted to encourage interaction between the different musicians," says project leader Martijn. But despite his prominent role, he provided enough room for personal contributions. "I think it is important to create a positive vibe in the studio. I had a final say with regard to the overall sound, but I made sure my ego did not get in the way of the best final result."

Despite the fact that Delain is, first and foremost, a project, Martijn and the talented Charlotte Wessels make up the core of the band. Martijn wrote most of the songs, whereas the characteristic voice of Charlotte gives Delain its own identity. Her serene and poppy sound differs from the high opera-like vocals so typical for the gothic genre. Martijn met the then still 18-year-old Charlotte by chance. He wasn't looking for a lead vocalist at the time, so he just asked her to write lyrics and vocal parts. But when he heard her sing a few tracks in the studio, he was so impressed that he immediately asked her to join Delain.

Lucidity contains some interesting duets: Liv Kristine sings with Marko Hielata on 'Day For Ghosts' and with Charlotte on 'See Me In Shadow'. Sharon den Adel's distinctive voice is a great counterpart to Marko's intense vocals on 'No Compliance', whereas the heavy grunts of George Oosthoek combine very well with Charlotte's peaceful voice on a number of other tracks.

Despite, or perhaps because of, the musical and vocal diversity on the album, the songs on Lucidity form an appealing unity. Musically characteristic for Delain are the prominent keyboards, bombastic choirs and changes in tempo, added with heavy guitars, ultra-tight drums and great melodies. "I love beautiful, melancholic and powerful, even euphoric, music. But most important for me is the vibe a song has," explains Martijn.

The album release will be preceded by the first single 'Frozen', which contains the same ingredients as most of the songs of Lucidity: a catchy chorus, heavy riffs, a guitar solo, a choir, but also a more mellow and melodic break. In short, it is a great taste of everything Delain has to offer!




Discography

- "Lucidity" (2006)
- "April Rain" (23 March 2009)

Band

Charlotte Wessels (vocals)
Martijn Westerholt (keys)
Ronald Landa (guitars and vocals)
Rob van der Loo (bass)
Sander Zoer (drums)

Links

www.delain.nl
www.myspace.com/delainmusic

Here are the last news-

The date of the new album is postponed

Quote :

New Releasedate April Rain

New releasedate April Rain and new showdates
Roadrunner has made Delain an international priority release. Because of this, several international release dates have been moved to one date. The album will be released internationally at the 27th of March, Exeption to this are The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. The new album will be released there at the 20th of March. As a result of this the two announced release shows have to move as well. Through a sneak preview show on Friday March the 6th in their Dutch home town Zwolle, Delain will present the first new single and will play new material of the album. The official international releaseparty at Amsterdam will be moved to Thursday the 19th in “De Melkweg”.

The tour in support of Kamelot

I wish they'd come to England.

I love Delain. I never really liked them only No Compliance because of Sharon and Marco. But then I found Frozen on the day I really needed it and it summed up everything I felt at the time. So I think I was destined to like them Lucidity every song is just amazing especially Silhouette Of A Dancer and See Me In Shadow. I love the album and it's very personal to me.

Martijn has done an amazing job and I adore Charlotte's voice, it's so unique.

I really cant wait for April Rain. I've heard live versions of Start Swimming and Stay Forever and I'll Reach You and they are beautiful. I cant wait for studio versions.

Delain are one of my favourite bands and I'm glad theres only one guest appearance from Marco for April Rain as I like the fact it's no longer a project

The tracklist and the cover




01. April Rain
02. Stay Forever
03. Invidia
04. Control the Storm
05. On the other side
06. Virtue and Vice
07. Go Away
08. Start Swimming
09. Lost
10. I’ll reach you
11. Nothing Left



‘April Rain’ will also be available as limited edition digipak including bonus content.

Quote :

Dutch metal band Delain have revealed the tracklisting and cover art for their eagerly awaited new album ‘April Rain’, which hits the stores March 30th. April Rain follows the successful 2006 debut Lucidity, which sky-rocketed the career of the band in their home country of The Netherlands. “The new album April Rain is a real group effort, that’s what we’re most proud of” says Martijn Westerholt, keyboard player and composer for Delain. After a successful tour in Germany in December 2008, Delain will launch the new album in Amsterdam on March 19th at a special event at the Melkweg venue.

Westerholt adds: “And after that we’ll tour Europe with Kamelot and do multiple headline shows throughout Europe. I’d never intended Delain to be a real touring band…but now that we’ve become one, I’m definitely enjoying it to the fullest. We’re looking forward to seeing our fans again real soon!”

I really am so excited. The cover looks gorgeous well Charlotte does. I'm desperate to hear the new songs.

Didn't knew where to put it, but this seemed ok

DELAIN Working On New Album; European Tour Dates Announced - Sep. 11, 2010

DELAIN — the project founded by ex-WITHIN TEMPTATION keyboardist Martijn Westerholt (brother of WITHIN TEMPTATION's Robert Westerholt) — has scheduled the following European tour dates in 2011:

Apr. 29 - UK - Manchester - Academy 3
Apr. 30 - UK - London - O2 Islington Academy
May 01 - UK - Glasgow - The Cathouse
May 02 - UK - Leamington - The Assembly
May 04 - FRA - Strasbourg - La Laiterie
May 05 - FRA - Lyon - CCO
May 06 - ESP - Barcelona - Salamandra1
May 07 - ESP - Madrid - Sala Caracol
May 08 - FRA - Marseille - Poste a Galene
May 09 - ITA - Milano - Alcatraz
May 11 - SWI - Luzern - Schüür
May 12 - GER - Stuttgart - Röhre
May 13 - GER - Aschaffenburg - Colos-Saal
May 14 - GER - München - Backstage
May 15 - HUN - Budapest - Diesel
May 17 - POL - Warsaw - Stodola
May 18 - GER - Berlin - K17
May 19 - GER - Hamburg - Knust
May 20 - GER - Köln - Underground
May 21 - FRA - Paris - Elysee Montmartre

Support on all dates will come from SERENITY.

DELAIN will release its third album in January/February 2011 via Roadrunner Records.

source:
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=145881

Anyone going to the London show? I want to go!

I don't think so

I re-listened to a bunch of their stuff and now I can't decide if I really want to or not I mean I like Charlotte and I think she's very sweet, but most of my favourite songs by them are ones with Marco singing or Sharon singing, and they're obviously not going to have them there! Hmmph.

I'm so in love with Manson and Get The Devil Out Of Me, the songs they are playing live. I heard them first time on the live webcast and I've been listening to them since that!

Does anyone here know if their choice of name was inspired by Stephen King's "The Eyes of the Dragon"? The book is set in a land called Delain and it was published in 1987.

http://www.auxportesdumetal.com/interviews/delain-uk.html

I just googled it and it seems you're right

I like them. Lucidity is an awesome album, one of the best I've heard in the goth rock genre. However, I find April Rain really weak. It's too electronic and gets boring easily. I hope their third one will be better