PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
Ladies and gentlemen, I introduce you to My Reflection, a five piece melodic metal band from Finland. Formed in 2007, the band quickly released their first EP, ‘Slipping Away’ before taking a year-long break. In 2010 a self-published demo album, ‘Be My Eyes’, surfaced, of which three tracks began receiving radio airplay across several Finnish radio stations including Radio Rock and YleX. In November of last year, the band’s full length debut album ‘Dreamland Drowning’ was released in Finland via Inverse Records, an album that is due to hit the UK on January 11th, and the review of which you’re reading right now.
On first glance, you would be forgiven for thinking that this would just be another run-of-the mill female-fronted metal album that, whilst showing great potential, would not stand up to the heights of the masters of the trade in Nightwish and Evanescence. But you’d be wrong. ‘Dreamland Drowning’ is not so stereotypical. As the band themselves have said in interviews, they don’t just want to be another one of ‘those bands’ – rather, they want to ‘bring out [their] own preferences and something new to each instrument.’ And wow, they do just that.
There is a real cocktail of elements within this album, not just drawing on the two band mentioned above, but also bands like Bullet for My Valentine and Lacuna Coil, with even a little bit of Dragonforce thrown in for good measure. Frontwoman Jenni Räikkönen is complimented well by the growling voices from guitarist Petja Haapaniemi and the soaring clean vocals provided by Petja, second guitarist Henkka Vuorenmaa and drummer Pete Inkinen, not least on the double salvo of lead single ‘Let the Rain Come Down’ and ‘Stand Again’, both of which twist and turn expertly as all three band members exchange lines and bounce off one another beautifully.
The rest of the album isn’t too shabby, either. From the moment we move from the haunting sounds of the title track into the double-bass pedals and fast-paced guitars of ‘Sweet Freedom’, we’re off and away on a rollercoaster of a journey that provides countless opportunities to throw shapes and headbang right up until the sheer awe and power of epic closer ‘Farewell’. There isn’t a single track on the album that follows the well-trodden formula that has seen so many ‘femme metal bands’ fall at the way side in recent years, and this gives My Reflection a real edge over the rest of the competition.
Should the band make it over to these shores in the upcoming year, miss them at your peril. They have the songs in their arsenal to be a real force on the live circuit, and once you’ve heard ‘Dreamland Drowning’, I’m sure you’ll agree with me. 8/10
Band lineup:
Jenni Räikkönen – Lead vocals
Petja Haapaniemi – Guitars, vocals
Henri ‘Henkka’ Vuorenmaa – Guitars
Aki Tainio – Bass
Petri ‘Pete’ Inkinen – Drums, vocals
Track Listing:
1. Dreamland Drowning
2. Sweet Freedom
3. Crossroads
4. Let the Rain Come Down
5. Stand Again
6. On the Edge
7. Shadow in the Sun
8. Down to Rebirth
9. Ghost
10. Eternal Flames
11. Conscience Calling
12. Farewell
Links:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MyReflectionBand
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/myreflectionband
