“Unravel” is the second album from Dutch quintet Delphian. It follows their debut album “Oracle” which was released back in July 2005 and gained much critical acclaim. Delphian was founded by guitarist Coert Bouten and drummer Roel van Helden. Completing the line up are Aniek Janssen on vocals and flute, Marcel Volleberg on rhythm guitar and Sjoerd Hoeijmakers on bass.

The first striking thing about this band is the vocal by Aniek. She is blessed with a voice that is strong and forceful. It’s just as well as the opening track “Starting To Unravel” is a heavy, brooding and gutsy workout. Seven string guitars give the song plenty of clout along with solid and in your face drumming. It’s a great introduction to the band as they lay down the blue print of their very unique sound. There are delicate flute melodies alongside twin harmony guitars and down and dirty pinched harmonics from the guitars reminiscent of Zak Wylde's sound. The track is slightly progressive with its shifting rhythms and yet is at the same time classic hard rock. It’s a hard thing to describe but it did leave me thinking here was a sound that’s new and fresh.

At first I did wonder whether here was another band in the Within Temptation or Nightwish style of rock but after the first few tracks it is plain that Delphian are something completely different. There are no over the top operatics or wanton use of sound effects, instead they deliver honest and gutsy hard rock with a twist.

“Creation” is a real corker, which gets better on each listen. Aniek gives a vocal delivery which at times reminded me of the Wilson sisters from Heart. One moment the vocals are smooth and the next there is just the right edge of angst and grit. One can imagine that this track will be very impressive when played live.

“Sleepless Lullaby” begins as a gentle piece of music as it meanders along but begins to pick up pace as instruments get progressively more heavier. Here is band building a song in front of the listener’s ears. It gives the music added drama and just when you think the music is going to get even heavier the band do the unexpected and mellow things down again. Effective and thoughtful stuff.

“Focus On Acid” begins with some nice tight and focused riffing with flute soaring over the top. If Jethro Tull were starting out life now as a modern day rock band maybe they would sound something like this. The interplay between drums and guitars is so tight you can’t see daylight.

“Black And Blue” is a grooving rocker, which has bursts of melodic light alongside the dark melodies and twisting and turning rhythms. There are some harmony guitar passages and a nice neo classical style flavour emerges as the song progresses. Aniek goes for some higher notes than on previous tracks showing she has quite a vocal range.

“Hidden” is a solid and lively track, which demonstrates once again the tight playing as a unit from the guitars and drums. There is a breakdown in the middle, which brought to mind soulful playing in the style of Santana, and when the flute entered I began to think of Barclay James Harvest in their very earliest form. It’s great when music gets your imagination running in this way.

“Undone” features shifting time signatures at the beginning, which had me once again marveling at the musician’s real teamwork. The song has a guitar solo which manages to avoid any clichés and the song also employs massed vocals in the chorus which had me wondering why they hadn’t been used more often before as they really filled out the sound.

“Air” sees the album ending with an epic. Opening with a piano part which had me thinking of Dr, Dr by UFO. .the song slowly builds and there is a nice male vocal part which sadly I am unable to credit as my information didn’t include who the singer was, but suffice to say he is perfect for this track. The track is very melodic and musical as the band let the flute take centre stage towards the end of the song

Delphian have created an album which stands out due to the bands very original sound. They have kept their performance free of studio trickery and as a result have given us an album that sounds honest and cliché free. The potential of this band is very plain to see as their instrumentation allows them to go from heavy to mellow and dark to light in the blink of an eye. The other aspect, which is promising about this band, is that the music seems to be almost tailor made for the live environment. Delphian are definitely a band to watch out for and it will be intriguing to see where the band take their music next.

Let us know your views on 'Unravel'

Track Listing

Starting To Unravel
Creation
Sleepless Lullaby
Focus On Acid
Black & Blue
Hidden
Undone
Air

Line Up

Aniek Janssen - Vocals/Flute
Coert Bouten - Guitar
Marcel Volleberg - Guitar
Sjoerd Hoeijmakers - Guitar
Roel van Helden - Drums