''The Human Contradiction'' is the fourth studio album by the Dutch symphonic metal band

Delain Delain is a Dutch symphonic metal band formed in 2002 by former Within Temptation keyboardist Martijn Westerholt, intending for the band to be solely a project. Singer Charlotte Wessels was invited to join in 2005. The name of the band comes fr ...

. It was released on 4 April 2014 in Europe, and on 8 April 2014 in North America. The album features guest appearances from Alissa White-Gluz, Marko Hietala and George Oosthoek.

Background

According to lead singer

Charlotte Wessels Johanna Charlotte Wessels (born 13 May 1987) is a Dutch singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. She is best known as the former lead vocalist for the Dutch symphonic metal band Delain. Background Wessels has been trained in both jazz singi ...

, the album's title was inspired by

Octavia E. Butler Octavia Estelle Butler (June 22, 1947 – February 24, 2006) was an American science fiction author and a multiple recipient of the Hugo and Nebula awards. In 1995, Butler became the first science-fiction writer to receive a MacArthur Fellowshi ...

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

trilogy ''

Lilith's Brood ''Lilith's Brood'' is a collection of three works by Octavia E. Butler. The three volumes of this science fiction series (''Dawn'', ''Adulthood Rites'', and ''Imago'') were previously collected in the now out-of-print volume ''Xenogenesis''. T ...

''. 'The Human Contradiction' refers to humans in general being highly intelligent and hierarchically structured at the same time. The songwriting, however, was not influenced by ''Lilith's Brood'' but continues the theme of being different that was portrayed by Delain's previous album ''

We Are the Others ''We Are the Others'' is the third full-length album by the Dutch symphonic metal band Delain. It was released in the Benelux and Germany on 1 June 2012 and in the United Kingdom and France on 4 June by CNR Music, who took over Delain when War ...

''. It charted at number 25 on the Official Album Charts in their native country of Netherlands, as well as charting at number 44 on the Official Album Charts in the United Kingdom.

Reception

A joint review by 10 '' Sonic Seducer'' writers found that ''The Human Contradiction'' was a well-produced gothic metal album oriented towards

Within Temptation Within Temptation is a Dutch symphonic metal band founded in April 1996 by vocalist Sharon den Adel and guitarist Robert Westerholt. They have been classified by critics as gothic metal and symphonic metal, although each album contains other inf ...

, but without any new impulses. A reviewer for the '' Decibel'' magazine wrote, too, that the album contained nothing new, but was well crafted. According to ''

Metal Hammer ''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' features news, reviews and long-form ...

'' Germany, ''The Human Contradiction'' was in fact different than other releases by Delain in that it contained a tiny musical allowing Charlotte Wessels to present the full range of her voice. The reviewer noted though that the album was "too hard for sophisticated pop, ndtoo shallow to have any rocking depth." Matt Farrington for All About The Rock said "It would be nice to see them pushing the boundaries more to see what else can be delivered. That said it would be a tough task for them to deliver a better record than April Rain back in 2009".

Track listing

Personnel

Delain

– vocals *

Martijn Westerholt David Martijn Westerholt (born 30 March 1979 in Waddinxveen, Netherlands) is the founder, keyboardist, and the main songwriter of the Dutch symphonic metal project Delain. He was previously a member of symphonic metal band Within Temptation, unt ...

– keyboards *Timo Somers – guitars *Otto Schimmelpenninck van der Oije – bass *Sander Zoer – drums

Additional musicians

* Marko Hietala – clean male vocals (2, 6) *George Oosthoek – death growls (5) * Alissa White-Gluz – death growls & clean female backing vocals (9) *

Georg Neuhauser Georg Neuhauser (born February 22, 1982) is an Austrian metal vocalist, best known as the lead vocalist and songwriter for the Austrian symphonic power metal band Serenity. He helped create the stable line up of Serenity in 2004, and has rele ...

– backing vocals (9) *Guus Eikens – additional guitars *Oliver Philipps – additional guitars, arrangements, engineer (vocals) *Mike Coolen – additional drums *Ruben Israel – additional drums *Mikko P. Mustonen – orchestration

Production

*Martijn Westerholt – production, arrangements *

Arno Krabman Arno Krabman (; born 19 March 1982) is a Dutch songwriter and producer. He is known for his work with, among others, Suzan & Freek, Snelle and S10, and has had over twenty-five Dutch Single Top 100 hits as a songwriter. His repertoire consists ...

– drum engineering *

Ad Sluijter Epica is a Dutch symphonic metal band, founded by guitarist and vocalist Mark Jansen after his departure from After Forever. Formed as a symphonic metal band with gothic tendencies, later Epica have incorporated into their sound strong death ...

– guitar engineering *Christian Moos – guitar engineering, mixing *André Zoer – live recording engineering * Fredrik Nordström – mixing *Henrik Udd – mixing *

Ted Jensen Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' ''Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''. Biography T ...

– mastering at Sterling Sound, New York *Das Buro – artwork, design *Sandra Ludewig – photography

Charts

References

External links

Metallum Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Human Contradiction 2014 albums Delain albums Napalm Records albums