Mandrake - Mary Celeste (CD)

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Gothic metal is a genre of the music we love, that is growing fast during the years. Many bands have female vocals, trying to get a piece of the pie. Lets see if MANDRAKE with their fourth album Mary Celeste can make a breakthrough and climb to the top of the gothic metal scene.

MANDRAKE is the child of Lutz De Putter, born in Germany in the late 90's. Their first self-produced album Forever, was released in 1998. In that time the music was more into death metal and the female vocals were rare. In 1999, Birgit Lau joined the band and they started changing their music to more gothic forms. After signing with  Greyfall/Prophecy Productions, MANDRAKE's second album Calm The Seas was out, in 2003. Two years later The Balance Of Blue hit the stores. The band was consistent and their last effort so far Mary Celeste will be release this year.

Te thing I liked in this album is that, despite MANDRAKE have some gothic elements, the music is leaning towards metal. LACUNA COIL and THE GATHERING, as they where 12 years ago, are the two bands that came into my head after the first time I listened to the album. Lyrics and music often deal with the forces of nature, especially water, and the desire to reach distant shores and galaxies. The title track, talks about the story of the 'Mary Celeste', that left the harbour of New York in 1872 and some time after this, the ship was found floating around near Gibraltar, totally abandoned. Birgit's voice is not the best voice I ever heard, but she has that something. Nice melodies, not much keyboards, and guitars have the leading role in MARY CELESTE.

Mandrake has produced a varied album, from dark and heavy tracks like Mary Celeste and Adore, up to more easy listening like Masquerade. With this album, MANDRAKE have the potential to make the big step and walk together with the more known bands of gothic metal.