Origin:	Netherlands
Genres:	Gothic Metal

Delain

Delain is a spinoff of the Dutch symphonic band Within Temptation, with keyboardist Martijn Westerholt leaving his former band for health reasons; while recovering, he continued to compose music, music that would eventually become Delain. His first album (Lucidity) is driven by an impressive array of guest appearances, including his former bandmate Sharon del Adel, Liv Kristine (Leaves' Eyes, Theatre Of Tragedy), Marco Hietala of Nightwish, and many others. Eventually a proper band was put together for the followup, 2009's April Rain. The Dutch seem to have a monopoly on quality female-fronted symphonic gothic metal, what with Within Temptation, Epica, After Forever, and of course The Gathering leading the way. Delain is somewhat more poppy than some of those bands, and not surprisingly a bit more keyboard-dominated, but Charlotte Wessels puts in a strong vocal performance, and overall the songs are strong, if a shade on the commercial side. This band isn't quite at the forefront of the gothic scene, but give 'em time and they might make a run at it.