Delain: Lunar Prelude

Symphonic stopgap EP scatters some gems amongst the filler

By Natasha Scharf
( Metal Hammer )
published
Delain

You can trust Louder Our experienced team has worked for some of the biggest brands in music. From testing headphones to reviewing albums, our experts aim to create reviews you can trust. Find out more about how we review.

Fresh from touring and Charlotte Wessels’ conceptual Phantasma project, Delain are back with the prelude to their fifth album, due later this year.

This isn’t their first such stopgap release, and like 2013’s Interlude, Lunar Prelude offers new songs, a reworking and a bunch of live tracks. If these new recordings are anything to go by, the finished album will be a stormer. With its catchy chorus and symphonic elements, Within Temptation-esque opener Suckerpunch is the natural follow-up to The Human Contradiction’s dark metal – there’s even an orchestral reprise later – while the gothic-pop of Turn The Lights Out sounds like it should be playing over the end credits of a dark fantasy film.

Sadly, the other six tracks feel like filler. Don’t Let Go is slightly revamped from the deluxe edition of The Human Contradiction, while the live tracks don’t bring anything new or exciting.

If you’re a superfan, grab this for the exclusive content; otherwise, hold tight for the imminent next studio release.

Natasha Scharf
Natasha Scharf
Deputy Editor, Prog

Contributing to Prog since the very first issue, writer and broadcaster Natasha Scharf was the magazine’s News Editor before she took up her current role of Deputy Editor, and has interviewed some of the best-known acts in the progressive music world from ELP, Yes and Marillion to Nightwish, Dream Theater and TesseracT. Starting young, she set up her first music fanzine in the late 80s and became a regular contributor to local newspapers and magazines over the next decade. The 00s would see her running the dark music magazine, Meltdown, as well as contributing to Metal Hammer, Classic Rock, Terrorizer and Artrocker. Author of music subculture books The Art Of Gothic and Worldwide Gothic, she’s since written album sleeve notes for Cherry Red, and also co-wrote Tarja Turunen’s memoirs, Singing In My Blood. Beyond the written word, Natasha has spent several decades as a club DJ, spinning tunes at aftershow parties for Metallica, Motörhead and Nine Inch Nails. She’s currently the only member of the Prog team to have appeared on the magazine’s cover.