Review by Nina Sky

Independent Release

 Crimson Tears are a female fronted metal band from England. They use mainly a heavy metal sound with thick symphonic overtones. The band was founded in 2003 by guitarist Dave Miller. By late 2004 they band had been formed with singer Gina, bass player Steve and pianist Marcus. About 8 weeks before the recording of their debut album The Dark Awakening found new drummer Trevor after the previous drummer had to leave due to family pressures and other commitments.

The first thing that I noticed when I played this CD was the power and beauty of Gina's vocals. I guess that was what really drawed me into Crimson Tears. Like most frontwomen Gina is at the front of the band, not only does she sing but she also writes the lyrics and a lot of the bands music itself. Her vocal is very varied from high flowing notes to deeper notes. In such songs as "Enemy Of My Enemy" and "Razorblade Serenade" Gina's vocals are very varied and expressive.
 
Now, the music of the band sometimes delves deeply into symphonic metal with similiar sounding tunes as Edenbridge. But this is no Edenbridge, this is a heavier British band. To me the music is very enjoyable it fits the vocals and it's well structure in the sense that it's solid. The band vary their sound and have slower songs like "Pandora's Realm PT1: Aurora" which is an instrumental track where Chapman play the piano throughout.
 
The male vocals which often accompany Gina's give the band a different edge. Most symphonic sounding bands usually have only female singers. This makes the band different to the others in a few ways.
I think this album is amazing and I sure hope the bands second album is just as good if not better.

Rating : 9.0/10

Tracklist :

1. Angel For My Sin
   
2. Enemy Of My Enemy
3. Eternity
   
4. Frozen
5. Steal My Heart
   
6. Emotion Denied
   
7. Pandora's Realm PT1: Aurora
   
8. Pandora's Realm PT2: Luna Pandora
   
9. Razorblade Serenade
   
10. Strange

Line Up (In This Album) :

• Gina Olham - Lead and Backing Vocals
  
• Dave Miller - Guitars and Backing Vocals
  
• Marcus Chapman - Keyboards and Piano
  
• Steve Taylor - Bass
  
• Trevor Phillips - Drums

Links :

Crimson Tears Official Site

Crimson Tears Official MySpace