By Bona Pjarren
Westenra emerged out of the shadows of Whitby Abbey in autumn 2019, three lost souls – Luciferia (vocals), Karl (guitars), and Dominique (bass) – each drawn to the dark mysteries and legends of that most magical place. They celebrated the release of their debut single, ‘First Light’ with a number of acclaimed high-profile gigs over the November 2019 Goth weekend in Whitby, including the infamous Little Angel pub and the inaugural Goth at The (Whitby) Brewery. An exclusive live performance at the Whitby Rifle Club in December 2019 was followed with the release of the epic second single, ‘The Last Beat Of Our Hearts’, in February 2020. The Autumn of 2020 saw the band film live performances for a Channel 4 travel show featuring comedian Rosie Jones, and for the ‘Goth City 5: Video Nasty (Internet Bootleg)’ online festival.
I recently reviewed All My Thorns at the HRH Goth festival and mentioned that I liked their track ‘Dreamscape’; apparently a couple of members of Westenra had a hand in writing that song, which prompted them to get in touch and see if we would be interested in reviewing their debut album, also called ‘First Light’. So, here we go…
At first listen it hangs together quite well as an album. There weren’t any tracks that stood out as being weak or throw away, though some tracks are stronger than others. I loved a lot of the samples, particularly on the intros to some of the tracks like ‘Daemon Inside’: very industrial. And Luciferia has a vocal style that at times is very reminiscent of Siouxsie Sioux. It all fits nicely into the Gothic genre they represent.
‘Dark Meets The Dawn – First Light’ is a decent start to the album with an interesting intro but doesn’t really offer anything more than this. It’s an okay track, but when I heard ‘Empowered’ I felt more hooked into what was happening. It has a haunting intro and a much more memorable set of riffs. It is a driving dark and brooding track that builds in its intensity and soon had my foot tapping. I particularly liked the inclusion of the ethnic percussion elements. It didn’t surprise me that this was a track they chose to feature as a YouTube video; it definitely gets into your head.
Next up and a drop in tempo is ‘Shadow Of A Ghost’. It has some really nice keyboard work leading into a ominous ballad. At six minutes plus, it is an epic piece of music that also gives some breathing space from ‘Empowered’. ‘Soul Shine’ comes straight in with no messing, an up tempo, in yer face song, and again it displays Westenra’s ability to create some compelling melodies. This is followed with possibly one of my favourite tracks of the album, ‘Daemon Inside’, with its industrial style intro it then rips into some high octane riffage complimented by Luciferia’s soaring vocals and Dominique’s driving bass lines. Karl brings some beautifully structured guitar tunes to the track as a whole.
‘Sirens’ gives the listener another breather with its stripped back simplicity carried predominantly by Dominique’s bass work. It is a slow builder, gradually allowing other instruments to introduce themselves to the song. ‘Pandora’s Lullaby’ has a wonderfully creepy introduction leading into an almost medieval sounding waltz. It is also one of the shortest tracks on the album and acts as a prelude to ‘Trinity’, another up-tempo track featuring Luciferia’s distinctive Siouxsie-style vocal. Suddenly I am listening to the last track of the release, the appropriately titled ‘The Last Beat Of Our Hearts’ (the second single to be released), a slower track to wind the album down with, but still has a certain grand appeal to it as it veers between its main theme and its more subtle passages.
Overall, it is a decent, unashamedly gothic debut album with some strong individual songs, the highlights of which, for me, were ‘Empowered’, ‘Daemon Inside’ and ‘Pandora’s Lullaby’. ‘First Light’ is well worth a listen.
- ‘First Light’ is out now. You can get your copy HERE.
- Westenra play the last Goth City festival, at Boom in Leeds, on Friday 8 October.
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