Album Review: Apolinara – Shadows & Signs (Self Released)

Raised in Ukraine and now based in the USA, Symphonic gothic metal artist Apolinara draws inspiration from her travels and delivers a powerful message about facing the endless fight with inner demons. Shadows and Signs will be released on February 22nd, 2022.

In her own words:

Shadows and Signs is my first full length musical baby. No wonder I feel very sentimental but fierce about it. I’m excited to share it with the world as my personal manifest of inspiration and inner fight with personal demons. Let’s Fire UP!

Gothic symphonic splendour, Apolinara’s debut album is a grand affair. One that feels so very personal, is so very melodic but doesn’t lack the fire needed to gee up the spirit. From the moment the Intro bleeds into the airy Wonderful, the bar is set very high. Apolinara’s vocals soar and blend nicely with the melodic rockiness and symphonic majesty. It’s a start that radiates passion, something that is ever-present throughout.

Don’t be fooled by the ‘gothic symphonic’ tag, Apolinara has some heaviness to her sound and You Can’t Get Away with This is a good example of that. A chunky groove metal set of guitars and pounding drums weigh things down but Apolinara’s powerful vocals offer some lightness. Whereas Dragon Dance and Slowly provide varying degrees of melodrama, with punchy groove and gothic symphonic grandiosity. Apolinara at her strongest and most memorable.

A little bit darker and sinister sounding, The Smile of the Demon is another strong offering before the melody fully takes over for No More. A very ‘power metal’ style track that has a commanding defiance to its chorus. That is then followed by the title track which keeps the groovy energy at a high but features male vocals that add some growl to things. Before Tears of Love gives us a short power-ballad experience. A very nice sounding track.

The penultimate effort sees Apolinara return to an earlier track in Slowly, but give it the acoustic treatment. A tad unnecessary, maybe better as bonus track, but it is still a cool sounding variation that really showcases Apolinara’s wonderful vocals.

Thankfully, the last track ends on a high as we get a super-melodramatic finale with We Had It All. Where a piano and violin accompanied by heartfelt vocals make for an emotional closer.

Apolinara – Shadows and Signs Full Track Listing:

1. Intro
2. Wonderful
3. You Can’t Get Away with This
4. Dragon Dance
5. Slowly
6. The Smile of the Demon
7. No More
8. Shadows and Signs
9. Tears of Love
10. Slowly (Acoustic)
11. We Had It All

Links

Website | Patreon | Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube