Just before Christmas Selene released their latest single ‘Blood’ and decided in the season of good will to give it away for free! Who are Selene I hear you ask, and ask you might for their bio hath answers!
Selene are an exciting new Metal band from Northern Ireland, mixing powerful operatic vocals with Heavy Atmospheric music they create a unique brand of hard hitting Symphonic Metal.
The closest you’ll get to this commercially is Dragon Force, or if that still isn’t ringing any bells think Meatloaf meets Kate Bush by way of Iron Maiden. You with me so far? Good.
The song Blood starts off simple enough with a wee synthesized ditty that soon makes way to thundering bass pedals, big guitars and haunting vocals. There seems to be a lot of instruments at play here and I’m not exactly sure how many are being used, but what sounds like everything from violins to harps to mandolin seem to make an appearance and make up a frantic and racing background that winds in and around the storyteller style lyrics. It certainly makes up the symphonic part of Symphonic Metal!
A mid song breakdown allows the song to quieten a bit so we can hear the vocals soar as they sing “how can they love, if we only teach them to hate” this gives way to a blisteringly intricate solo and breakneck drums. Lead singer Shonagh Lyons is a classically trained operatic soprano, and it shows – there’s a breadth and depth to her voice that oozes confidence and makes this something a bit different and very, very special. The rest of band more than keep up their end of the deal as well, holding their own and providing a tight, well executed back drop for Shonagh’s voice.
Selene also released their EP Paradise Over last year to critical acclaim and I would say that Selene are more than a bit different than what most folks are used to hearing, but they are definitely worth giving a listen to.
