I can’t tell you how much I’m excited about making this review. It’s the first album that I’ll talk about while it’s not officially released yet. And even better, it’s one I really wanted to have. I’m talking about the very first album of the Belgium band Azylya, “Sweet Cerebral Destruction”.

Line-up:

• Jamie-Lee Smit – Vocals
• Yohann – Guitars & Vocals
• Anthony – Guitars
• Polak – Bass

Tracklist:

1. At The Beginning
2. Incest
3. Woodscape
4. Delirius
5. Sweet Cerebral Destruction
6. Within My Cell
7. Electroconvulsive
8. Death Of Oedipal Love
9. Darkness Ascending
10. Rise Of The Wicked

As it’s their first album, let me introduce them quickly. Azylya’s story begins with the angelic voice and strong personality of Jamie-Lee Smit (ex-Sad Siberia,ex-Skeptical Minds, ex-Aedden), who decide to left her last band and start her own project. The band formed in 2009 with Jamie-Lee Smit (Singer), Vlad Agaev (Keys and trash Vocals) and Gaëtan Caldérbank (Drums), Benjamin Santarossa (Bass) and Anthony Zek (Guitarist).

They released a debut EP “Thanatos’ Insanity” in 2011. Unfortunately, shortly after, both Vlad and Gaëtan decide to quit, forcing the band on searching for successors. This lead to the hiring of Forster Perelzstejn (ex Anwynn) on drums, Guillaume Donizeau (Antheria) on keys and a second guitarist, doubling the job of trash vocals, in the form of Maxime Rendolfi. Again, disaster struck as the 3 newcomers decide on leaving the band after 6 months,…But Azylya would not be Azylya if the search for the next generation has not been well underway, and so the line-up has been confirmed again with Yohann (Trash vocals/Guitars) and Laurent (Drums)… but then Benjamin could no longer ensure his presence with Azylya and in common agreement, left, to be replaced by Quentin aka Polak. With this new formation, they quickly catch the eyes of the French symphonic metal band Whyzdom for which they did some first parts. As the concerts began to come, the need came to hire an additional force, which came in the form of their manager, Dieter Leemans.

The band now complete and having signed with the up-and-coming label WormHoleDeath they could start working debut full-length, “Sweet Cerebral Destruction”.

In order to place the name and create a storyline into Azylya, Jamie-Lee use a complete story she wrote at the age of 14, revolving around a girl named Ginger, that remembers many things of a dark and traumatic past, but is uncertain what is real and what is fantasy, as in between her lethargic moments, she awakes being incarcerated in an asylum, amidst a world that is filled with dark and violent emotions.

For “Sweet Cerebal Destruction”, we follows the story of Ginger who is abused by her father who – in order to avoid a scandal – abandons her in an insane asylum, where her life goes from bad to worse.

The album start with an eerie piano intro with “At The Beginning” and continues in “Incest” with some more ominous sounding piano as the song progressively picks up in heaviness. Finally Jamie-Lee starts off with her angelic vocalist and is soon joined by the guttural death metal style of Yohann. The next song “Woodscape”, also starts with piano, which add an atmosphere to the songs before the growling guitars comes crashing in and let the song rise in power. This song also has a strong cinematic vibe and a relentless rhythm.

During the whole album, the vocals of Jamie-Lee are drive ever so careful through the waves of tragic keyboards and hard guitars. The keyboards are definitely one of the strengths of this album, creating a powerful, almost hypnotic gothic style. And the story told all along the album is revealed with a master hand in a dark poetic style, reminding me of Sir Edgar Allan Poe. This narration is backed by the musicianship created by the group. To all this must be added the contrast of the two voices creating a wonderful union that fits perfectly throughout the songs. All is present to make this album a great one.

In conclusion, I haven’t been disappointed with this album. Even if it’s their first one, the quality is amazing, the orchestration is well done and the length is more than reasonable. As living near Belgium, I must say that I’ve been quite proud to listen to this. This album is a must have.

Highlight: Incest, Death Of Oedipal Love, Rise Of The Wicked