Kev Rowland Earlier this year I was lucky enough to catch singer Floor Jansen fronting a band, proving that not only is she an incredible singer but also a wonderful front person. Earlier this week I saw a notification that she was now a full member of that band, Nightwish, and no longer a touring guest and based on what I saw that night the guys have made a very wise decision. For those who are unaware, Floor built her reputation as singer for twelve years with After Forever, and it was after she decided to spread her wings that she formed Revamp. But given her duties with Nightwish, I was somewhat surprised to see that she was releasing a second album in August 2013 under the Revamp name, but I am truly glad that she did. While she has a very high controlled trained soprano, she doesn’t need to go that high very often, but instead uses a more natural style that allows her to portray more power and emotion.

I’ve seen this album marked as progressive metal by many, but to me it is much more in the symphonic metal area than the progressive, and a wonderfully evocative and charismatic form at that. This is all about a metal band that is allowed to spread its’ wings just so far, but at all times the sole purpose is to provide a vehicle for Floor to shine, something she does with consummate ease. She dominates proceedings, but still makes room for guitarists Arjan Rijnen and Jord Otto so that there is a band feel as opposed to a solo act. She has guested with others in the past, and Devin Townsend returns the favour with a duet here. Solid, symphonic, powerful, with incredible vocals and great riffs. You can’t go wrong.

adg211288 Wild Card (2013) is the second album by Dutch symphonic/progressive metal act ReVamp. The band was formed by singer Floor Jansen after her previous band After Forever came to an end and released a self-titled debut album in 2010. At the time ReVamp was more like Floor's solo project, the album was put together by her with a host of guest contributors. By this stage however ReVamp are a full and proper band. Wild Card features guest appearances from Devin Townsend and Floor's old After Forever band mate Mark Jansen.

First things first, although I've always liked Floor Jansen as a vocalist, I've never really found an album that the material really did her voice justice. Despite the hype that went around for it, I could never properly get into After Forever's final self-titled release (from 2007). I also wasn't wowed by the ReVamp debut. Wild Card on the other hand is the album I've been waiting for from Floor Jansen. Not only is the material a lot more consistent in terms of quality, the style itself is much more to my liking, combing symphonic and progressive metal with an occasional burst of power metal. It's a very modern sound, especially on the progressive side of things, in fact sometimes it even gets close to the so called djent sound, so it would be understandable if the release didn't sit so well with the more traditionally minded metalheads. I have to be honest, I think I'd normally be on that side of the fence as well, but the key difference is that the sound suites Floor's vocals perfectly, and songs like Precibus or Nothing quickly assert themselves as album standouts.

And on that note I'm extra impressed with Floor on this album. In After Forever she always shared vocal duties in the beauty and the beast format, but these days she's fully in control of the situation, allowing both her rocky singing and powerful opera to shine. There are still growls here but apart from Mark Jansen's guest appearance during Misery's No Crime these too are now performance by Floor. And she's pretty damn good! Her use of growling is very much moderated but all the same, this certainly isn't a half-hearted attempt to join the ranks of the female extreme metal vocalists, it's the real deal. Much as I like Mark in Epica and MaYaN, his appearance here feels more like it's just for old times' sake rather than making a vital contribution to the album.

Devin Townsend's guest appearance on the other hand, now that's something special to make note of. Devin is one of metal's top male vocalists and Floor is one of metal's top female vocalists (if that wasn't established before Wild Card, it is now). You can either do the maths or take my word that they sound amazing together when they join forces on The Anatomy of a Nervous Breakdown: Neurasthenia (the third and final part of a trilogy of tracks).

ReVamp's Wild Card is an album that will definitely count as one of my biggest surprises of 2013. Floor Jansen has really made her mark with this one, completely shrugging off the shadows of her days as a co-vocalist in After Forever and coming into her own as a frontwoman. An exceptional grade rating is deserved.

90/100

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven: http://metaltube.freeforums.org/revamp-wild-card-t3178.html)

arcane-beautiful This album really is an interesting focal point of conversation, especially in today's metal world.

Now for those who don't know, Revamp are a band formed by former After Forever vocalist, Floor Jansen. Now ever since After Forever sadly broke up a few years ago, Floor's been keeping herself busy. From forming this band, doing guest vocals for Ayreon & Devin Townsend Project and (ahem) fronting Nightwish. What! Yes, that's right.

Ever since the departure of Annette Olson from Nightwish, Floor kindly has stepped in as a touring vocalist. Now, it has been debatable about this whole situation if Floor is actually good enough for Nightwish, and I think this album not only proves it, but makes her far superior than the band itself.

To say this album is a concept album is a bit of an overstatement, but the album certainly does have an overlying theme. The lyrics all deal with the different aspects of mental illness, mental breakdowns, split personalities and a lot of other crazy stuff. Musically the album is pretty much the standard prog metal, with some pretty interesting almost djenty musical bits at times.

One of the biggest changes in the music and in Floor's vocals styles is her new introduction to grunting and growling. Whenever I heard about Floor's grunts I was a bit sceptical, but then when ever I heard them, I was impressed. I admit it, she's no Angela Gossow, but this is only an additive of her vocals, so overall, I'm pretty impressed. In fact, the vocals in general are a pretty much the highlight of the whole album.

One of the most interesting moments on the album has to be the “Anatomy Of A Nervous Breakdown” song cycle. The opener to the album “On The Sideline”, which is also the first single is one of the bests songs these guys have made. With some absolutely insane vocals from Floor, it really is a highlight on this album. The second part “The Limbic System” is one of the more 'progressive' moments on the album, with a lot of interesting twists and turns throughout. The third part “Neurasthenia” is a vocal battle between Floor and Devin Townsend. Now, to try and outmatch Devin Townsend is usually laughable when tried, but Floor completely overshadows him...now that's impressive.

The album's title track could have been a possible single. A brilliant vocal performance from Floor too. “Misery's No Crime” is an interesting vocal battle between Floor and old band mate Mark Jensen. With Floor taking a back seat on the grunting, Mark opens the track off like a gorilla on heat before Floor matches it with some brilliant vocals.

In conclusion, this album proves that Floor is definitely one of the biggest talents in metal today. Nightwish better be lucky that Floor has been nice enough to lend her vocal duties in the band and if she was kind enough to join the band as a full time member. Whatever these guys

8/10