With numerous push-backs on their third album ‘We Are The Others’, resulting in it being held back over a year from its initial release date, it must be a relief for Dutch rockers Delain to finally see their work unveiled. With a picturesque cover and notable meaning to certain songs spoken of in interviews, you can pre-conceive much about this album being different. In a sense, it is, but there is much more to it than their previous efforts.
Off the bat, the one note is that it is much darker. It just feels different. Their previous release had numerous catchy moments, and that’s still prevalent in ‘We Are The Others’, yet its intertwined with a lot of different aspects. Perhaps this could be attributed to vocalist Charlotte Wessels, who played a bigger part than usual in the writing of all aspects on the record.
The number with the most prominent meaning is the title-track. Spoken widely about in interviews, it takes great influence from the case of Sophie Lancaster, who was murdered purely for her goth-like appearance. Hoping to pay tribute in some form to both Sophie and all others who feel outcast, Delain infuse light pianos and their big symphonic sounds as Charlotte declares, “If you feel mistreated, torn and cheated – you’re not alone.” With such a poignant story behind this track, the lyrics really take the forefront, yet the song itself feels big and powerful, anthemic even.
The album encompasses Delain’s progression in sound; it remains very much ‘them’ yet proves they’ve evidently grown. ‘Milk And Honey’ and ‘Get The Devil Out Of Me’ prove to be personal favourites, infusing their symphonic sounds with that soaring quality in Charlotte’s voice. ‘Babylon’ is explosive from the off, a more sinister twist on their sound. Admittedly, if this is your style of music or something you can get into then there are no real dips in quality. Picking highlights proves to be down to personal taste rather than a noticeable difference in excellence.
As someone who likes the more obscure sides of music at times, this is a really good release. Understandably, symphonic rock might not be your deal; even then, there are still a lot of addictive vocals and licks that could lure you into their fold. In terms of the band, this is quintessentially them but with evident progression. They’ve gotten a little darker, they’ve grown from their previous record and they’ve produced an album with no poor tracks. What more could you really ask for in an album?
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Off the bat, the one note is that it is much darker. It just feels different. Their previous release had numerous catchy moments, and that’s still prevalent in ‘We Are The Others’, yet its intertwined with a lot of different aspects. Perhaps this could be attributed to vocalist Charlotte Wessels, who played a bigger part than usual in the writing of all aspects on the record. 
