God's Silence, Devil's Temptation

Elis' band members features two of their fellow compatriots Erben Der Schöpfung's ex band members. Indeed, female vocalist Sabine Dünser and guitarist's Peter Streit were Erben Der Schöpfung members when the band released it's first album Twilight. I don't really know why they left to form Elis, and honestly I don't really care about it because now there are two bands for the price of one just like Morten Veland with Tristania and Sirenia and Mark Jansen with After Forever and Epica (and probably tons of others). Elis' debut album God's Silence, Devil's Temptation is of the same accabit as Erben Der Schöpfung's Twilight. Gothic metal with a female vocalist, except that Elis has more harsh male vocals throughout the album. The other difference remains in the use of keyboards. Elis has some touches of electronic elements too, but less predominant as on Erben Der Schöpfung's. Sabine Dünser's vocal performances, although better on this recording, are not the new gothic metal sensation. With the wide variety of bands nowadays, it is indeed more difficult to be the new sensation. The use of the German language is also an asset for the band to dissociate themselves from the thousand and one other gothic acts around. The cover artwork by Nadine van den Brock is very beautiful, and so is the artwork of the limited digipack. I really hoped the music would be as beautiful as the artwork. Alas, for me the music is not better or worse than all the latest gothic bands I have reviewed over the last couple of years. The music remains very enjoyable with melodic arrangements, but doesn't really thrill my heart as I find other bands' music a lot more emotional. Don't get me wrong though, God's Silence, Devil's Temptation remains a good album skillfully produced at Mastersound Studio by Alexander Krull (Atrocity), and boasts of a heavy yet clear production. The digipack edition features the bonus track Betrayal. An enjoyable album for the fans of the genre, but a very dispensable album for the other readers. As for myself, I enjoy listening to this album once in a while.