Vuur's 'In This Moment We Are Free - Cities' - Album Review

Anneke Van Giersbergen (The Gathering; The Gentle Storm) is well known in the rock and metal worlds due to her ethereal vocal style. While many women that front metal bands adopt a more operatic approach to their vocals, Van Giersbergen has always trodden a more haunting path. She first rose to prominence as a member of the atmospheric gothic/prog rock band The Gathering, whom she fronted between 1994 and 2007. The Gathering was a great showcase for her alternative vocal stylings, and the band gained quite a cult following during her tenure as frontwoman. Aside from The Gathering, which has dominated much of her career, Van Giersbergen has also lent her voice to many projects throughout the years. She has a great working relationship with the Dutch virtuoso musician and songwriter Arjen Anthony Lucassen and has appeared on many of his Ayreon albums, including 1998's classic Into the Electric Castle, and in 2009 she started working with Devin Townsend, appearing on many of his albums and often performing live with him. Her most recent metal release was two years ago and this saw her once again teaming up with Lucassen. The duo, calling themselves The Gentle Storm, released a concept album called The Diary which featured many guest musicians but really was a showcase for Van Giersbergen's voice. She, without the famously-stage shy Lucassen, took The Diary on tour and it was that that prompted her to begin her new project - simply titled Vuur. While Van Giersbergen has always maintained a prolific solo career alongside all of her various other projects, Vuur - which really is Van Giersbergen's baby - is her first truly metal work that is her own. Most of her metal outings in the past have been part of collaborations or through guest appearances, but Vuur is Van Giersbergen through and through. The reason I say that Vuur was born through the touring cycle for The Diary is because four of the five members of Vuur were a part of the band that took that album on the road. Joining Van Giersbergen on this new venture are guitarist Ferry Duijsens, who has played with Van Giersbergen on her solo outings and has also been a touring member of Leaves' Eyes, bassist Johan Van Stratum (Stream of Passion), and drummer Ed Warby (Gorefest) who has been Lucassen's go-to drummer for many years and has appeared on nearly all of the Dutch musicians releases. Joining these four is guitarist Jord Otto (ReVamp), who is the only member of Vuur not to have any previous association with The Gentle Storm. Vuur's debut album, rather wordily titled In This Moment We Are Free - Cities, is inspired by many of the cities that she has visited while touring the world performing. She co-wrote the album's songs with Joost Van Den Broek, who also produced the album and presumably contributed the sparse keyboard arrangements, but there are other collaborators throughout who each bring something to the table.

The fairly lengthy My Champion - Berlin gets the album underway, and establishes the album's mood and sound right away. Many of the riffs used throughout the album are definitely inspired by the popular djent movement, and this song opens powerfully with some staccato guitar rhythms and punchy drums. While Van Giersbergen's work is usually quite atmospheric, this album is definitely not one to focus on that side of her style. While there are moments of it, the dominant forces throughout are Otto and Duijsens' guitars. Van Giersbergen's vocals are as soaring as always however, and this angelic quality mixes well with the tough metal riffing. The song's chorus really showcases her vocal prowess, with some wonderfully delicate harmonies, which work well above the wall of guitars. There are guitar solos throughout, and this song contains a short one, but mostly this album is all about the riffs. Time - Rotterdam opens up fairly slowly, with a lumbering heavy riff that builds as it moves forward and adds some twin guitar harmonies for great melodic effect. This riff dominates the early part of the song, as it has a fairly long intro, but once the vocals kick in everything is stripped back to basic rhythms with Warby's slow double bass drumming driving everything. Many of the songs here are in the 'mid-paced' category, with very few really fast sections, but this song is slower than most with a real doom vibe at times with Van Stratum's bass really standing out at times for some crushing low notes. A flashy guitar solo does lift the mood a little, but this song's real power comes from the slow riffing. The Martyr and the Saint - Beirut is a more instantly-melodic song than the previous two, with the vocal melodies really standing out throughout. This is not an album full of catchy 'tunes', but this song certainly places melody at the front and centre. Van Giersbergen really shines here, with layers of vocal harmonies to really help bring the best out of all of her talents. The riffing throughout is instantly memorable too, with some punchy little guitar dances that really jump out, and show all four of the band's instrumentalists locked in together perfectly. The Fire - San Francisco definitely emphasises the more atmospheric side of Van Giersbergen's music, although the heavy riffing that characterises the album is still present. The verses here are more stripped back, with simple keyboard textures dominating along with a more restrained guitar attack. Despite this, there are still some heavy moments here and these see Van Giersbergen really going for it vocally, with some of the album's most powerful vocal liens. Freedom - Rio, which is co-written by Mark Holcomb (Periphery), is ironically one of the album's simplest pieces. Being co-written by a member of one of the most influential djent bands, it would make sense for this song to be a tech metal feast. This is not the case however and the song is built around a soaring chorus that is one of the album's most memorable moments. Many parts of the song feature melodic clean guitar passages, something which is not that common here, and that really allows Van Giersbergen to shine vocally with her angelic vocals showcasing why she is often regarded as one of the finest female singers in rock and metal. The heaviness returns with Days Go By - London, which is another song that really typifies the album's overall style. Despite this, there is some impressive lead guitar playing here, especially in the intro which showcases some flashy shredded runs which is something that is not found too commonly here. Elsewhere however, the song is typical of the dense metal arrangements found throughout this album.

Sail Away - Santiago, which is co-written by Esa Holopainen (Amorphis), definitely has a slightly different vibe than many of the other songs here. Comparisons with Holopainen's main band can certainly be drawn here, especially during more melodic intro, and this is a song that really puts the vocal melodies up on a pedestal. This is another instantly-memorable song, with a truly excellent chorus and some slightly folky melodies throughout that are clearly Holopainen's influence. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given my love for more melodic metal, it is the songs like this one on the album which connect with me more. This is probably my favourite piece here, and I would like to see more of this type of thing from Vuur in the future. Valley of Diamonds - Mexico City is co-written by Daniel Cardoso (Anathema) who Van Giersbergen is no stranger to working with as the two have collaborated previously during her solo career. Perhaps unsurprisingly then, this is a song that leaves the heaviness behind somewhat and focuses more on atmospherics. This is not a song to feature too many big riffs, but instead opts for haunting clean guitars and percussive rhythms to allow the vocals room to breathe. The song does get a little more energetic as it moves forward, and a section towards the end sees the pace pick up a fair bit, but the overall mood of this song is a calmer and more reflective. Your Glorious Light Will Shine - Helsinki opens with a gorgeous orchestral arrangement, not something which is commonly found here, before opening out into a heavier song with punchy mid-paced riffing and more obvious energy than is found elsewhere. The verses alternate between stripped-back vocal-led pieces and heavier sections dominated by the guitars. In an album that does not put too much stock in guitar solos, there is an excellent one here that comes as a bit of a surprise with some really fast but tasteful phrases that fit the song's overall more energetic feel. Save Me - Istanbul is another song that is co-written by Holopainen, and again traces of the Amorphis sound can be found here. The intro places more emphasis on the lead guitar, which is always nice to hear, the the folky melodies that were found earlier in the album reappear here. Sadly the big vocal melodies that dominated Holopainen's earlier co-write are not present here, and that does not really help the song to stand out from the crowd. Reunite! - Paris, the album's closing track, starts out slowly and is probably the closest thing to a ballad that this album has. Clean guitars and atmospheric keyboards dominate the opening portion of the song, which sees some of Van Giersbergen's trademark ethereal vocals. Most of her work here is more powerful than her usual delivery, so it is nice to see something more akin to hear earlier work during this last song. The song does become heavier as it moves along, although always at a fairly slow pace which allows the vocals to dominate, as well as a short guitar solo. It is quite a different song than the majority of what is found here, but it works well as a closing number due to it's closing credits-like quality and ethereal trappings. Overall, In This Moment We Are Free - Cities is a strong debut album from Vuur and sees Van Giersbergen finally taking the initiative to start her own metal band. While I would definitely like to see more of the melodic side of the band presented going forward, I feel this is a good start and is sure to impress fans of her voice.

The album was released on 20th October 2017 via InsideOut Music. Below is the band's promotional video for My Champion - Berlin.