Album Review: Exit Eden – Femmes Fatales (Napalm Records)

Exit Eden, the symphonic rock and metal trio that is Clémentine Delauney (Visions of Atlantis), Anna Brunner (League of Distortion), and Marina La Torraca (Phantom Elite), are back with their brand-new album ‘Femmes Fatales’, which is due to be released on January 12th, 2024, via Napalm Records.

If there is one area that Femmes Fatales can not be criticised about in any way, it is with the vocals. Unsurprisingly, for anyone who knows what these three women are capable of, this album is a showcase of talent. Grand and epic, powerful and prevailing, infectious and beyond impressive. Each vocalist delivers on this record, and when they combine their efforts, it is goosebump-inducing territory.

That being said, Femmes Fatales has a few issues that stop it being a great album, with the most prevailing being that it’s not that interesting overall. It features twelve tracks, half of which are covers, and finding tracks that really stick in the mind afterwards is hard work. As far as strong symphonic metal goes, it is perfectly solid, but it doesn’t thrill consistently.

That might sound harsh, so it must be stated that this is a good album overall. It begins with an energised symphonic head-banger called Femme Fatale but loses some momentum with a cover of the Pet Shop Boy’s It’s a Sin (even if the vocals are immense), before ex-Nightwish vocalist Marko Hietala joins for a very catchy and dynamic sounding Run!

It’s then time for another cover as the talented trio take on Journey’s Separate Ways. A great song covered by a great band, given a different vibe, but still ultimately very familiar. Exit Eden do this track a lot of justice and it’s quite loveable.

Whereas the only thing that really grabs the attention in Buried in the Past and a cover of Mylène Farmer’s Désenchantée is a ripping guitar solo in the former, and the massive chorus symphonies in the latter. Both tracks are effective and show just how well made this album is overall, but it comes back to that overlying feeling of thrills, and the lack of.

There’s a welcome darker tone to Dying in My Dreams but the chorus is surprisingly bland considering it’s an area that Exit Eden normally deliver on. Then it’s time for another cover as Alice Cooper’s Poison gets some attention, and Exit Eden give a track that most of us have heard way too many times, some real freshness. The vocals are so good here, and just like Separate Ways, hearing this very familiar track given a strong symphonic edge is fun.

Then it’s another cover with Heart’s Alone, a track that isn’t just overplayed but has been covered to death too. Although Exit Eden’s version is certainly one of the most powerful from a vocal standpoint.

There’s one more cover to come and it’s a cool version of Marillion’s Kayleigh, sandwiched in between two original tracks called Hold Back Your Fear and Elysium. The former is an excitable blend of melody and symphonically infused hard rock that gives all three vocalist a platform. Whereas the latter is a melodic and dramatic closer that has a massive chorus to end things in Exit Eden style.

Which is something unique to them and this album, even if the symphonic opulence is less so.

Exit Eden – Femmes Fatales Track Listing:

1. Femme Fatale
2. It’s a Sin
3. Run! (Feat. Marko Hietala)
4. Separate Ways
5. Buried in the Past
6. Désenchantée
7. Dying in My Dreams
8. Poison
9. Alone
10. Hold Back Your Fear
11. Kayleigh
12. Elysium

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