REVAMP — Wild Card (review)

Album · 2013 · Progressive Metal

5/5 · 2013-09-10
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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)