Chapter XVIII

Now that the Olympics is over normal service resumes. This week we venture across the French border to bring you a golden selection of chilling Alpine recommendations. We’ve had to climb to the very top of the mountain for these but we think it was worth it.

The Chorus

Hurdy-gurdy? In metal? Remember what we said last week; any instrument works in the genre. The members of folk-metal band Cellar Darling have carved out their niche perfectly following their departure from Eluveitie. The Swiss three-piece’s debut album This Is the Sound opens with deceptively soft chanted lyrics before hitting you with a sudden wall of sound in the appropriately titled Avalanche. The well-placed yodelling brings the mountainside to life and is one of the thematic styles running through the album. Our favourite Black Moon pairs a powerful chorus with brilliant time-signature altering hurdy-gurdy fills. The syncopated riff running through Hullaballoo is subtly overlayed with those sweet melodic drones. All this sound comes wrapped in stunning artwork by Niall C. Grant; if you’re a vinyl collector this record is definitely one to acquire.

The Champion - I

Untersiggenthal-born Seraina Telli’s bewitching vocals have been incredibly influential and important for melodic-metal band Rizon, prog-rock group Surrilium and most recently Swiss power metal giants Burning Witches. In fact we highly recommend you listen to the latter if you’re not already familiar. From hauntingly ethereal to echoing screams to unholy power Seraina can do it all, often at the same time. The Freiburg music alumnus traverses genres as seemingly effortlessly as she does vocal styles; her versatility is well-respected in the industry. We can think of no singer that better lives up to their band’s name. Now focussing on both a solo career and her own group Dead Venus, perhaps she will be open to working with you in your supergroup, provided you assemble the right group of Champions to showcase her range.

The Curse

The alpine yodelling has piqued the interest of a young Basilisk. These fearsome abominations, which have terrorised the city of Basel for centuries, are said to have been hatched by a cockerel from the egg of a serpent. Accurate descriptions of the creature are of course rare because looking one in the eye is a death sentence. Some accounts claim they sport a crown or mitre shaped crest - hopefully you don’t grow one of these as you might get confused with whatever the current iteration of Papa Emeritus is in Ghost. The Basilisk’s death stare will be useful for removing unwanted obstacles on your path to stardom but the venomous breath, not so much. In fact you are now so venomous that you leave a deadly trail in your wake. Be careful how you move around the stage.