AYIN ALEPH

Remarkable singer and pianist, AYIN ALEPH could be the child of Nina Hagen and Freddie Mercury, with Kate Bush as a godmother ! Ayin practises a sumptuous mix of gothic metal and baroque music, creating a personal universe that is rich, unusual and bewitching, that is even reinforced by her disturbing videos and her art of staging and costumes. The music of Ayin Aleph is already part of the playlist of both Rockshow and Hells Bells - RTBF

It was sure that one day the metal barock would be invited. So who else than this incredible diva could become the ambassador of this genre? It is hard to not succumb to the natural and provocative charm of this Ayin Aleph, Russian born citizen raised in the cult of classical piano! (...) Bringing her classical education on a very singular rock, she plays with the immense range of her voice and creates a musical style, that is hybrid and innovative. Progressive music is not far but it would have worn for the circumstance some more "flashy" rags. One is travelled from whisper to a lyrical intensity diverted from its original academical conventions. Aleph has to be categorized among the phenomenoms generated by the founding binary. She wears it with glam, excesses, flamboyance images that are underlines by the piano and harpsichord parts that she never lets anyone play unless herself. - EST REPUBLICAIN

This music, this metal opera composed on a cherry-red Steinway and blasted directly to the unconscious by virtue of Aleph’s surrealistic lyrics (“Slayers are fantasy’s games/crossing in my blood with jokes/and die in my eyes” is just a sample, from the song “Aleph”); this chamber-of-horrors sonic puzzle is from her acoustic album, no less, which may give you some idea of what she’s capable of when she really screws on the intensity. Ayin Aleph II is the logical follow-up to her debut album Ayin Aleph I, 19 songs in which Aleph articulates a host of characters—men and women, old and young—accompanied by a full-metal band.
The arrangements on the first album are quite complex, an original synthesis of baroque and black metal, reminiscent at times of a female Dani Filth on a more potent brand of absinthe, and at other moments of some decadent nightclub in Weimar Germany just before the second World War. Sneak in a pinch of Tori Amos, Freddie Mercury and Nina Hagen, and you start to get the idea. (“But I am not these people,” as Ayin would say.)
“Be in love,” Ayin writes on my copy of Ayin Aleph I, and it is this directive, this philosophy really, that underlies everything she does. “Being in love,” says Ayin, “is a condition of the highest aspiration to beauty in everything. It is a cascade of unusual, fine desires, a body on divine fire, unearthly sensations, a new visual opening of subjects and their nuances…all material breaks up to these fine nuances, and then gathers in a monolith creating a harmony of desire, and forces you to sound as an organ out of a temple.”
Exactly.
- Alex Johnson

Classifying her act as Barock, this Russian-born singer now living in France decided to kick-start her metal career with a release of a 19-track debut album, with each song on it as unique as it is eccentric. A classically trained pianist, Ayin Aleph defines Barock as a mixture of metal, baroque, and German 19th century romantic music, but whatever her classical influences may be, the baroque of Biber or Bach is as remote from what she does as bel canto is from dodecaphony. Strict stylistic distinctions, however, aren't important in this case, as Aleph mixes her genres so audaciously and to such a mesmerising effect that you soon forget where classical discipline ends and inspired theatrical buffoonery begins.

The opener "Hamlet" explains all you need to know about this artist's creative stance and her relationship with acting and drama. In a display of lavish theatricality, our heroine shape-shifts her voice into imitations of French opéra comique, 1930 Broadway musicals, operetta, Russian romance, and American music saloon, peppering this gregarious stew with little squeaks, squeals, and hot rasps in a wacky carnival of vocal flamboyance. It is all about bizarre artificiality, quirky illusions and, thankfully, a great deal of humour too, as Aleph happens to have a shrewd sense of comedy, using a variety of vocal traditions to mock classical music as much as she mocks pretentious, affected metal.

The emphasis remains on her voice throughout the record, as the simple metal riffs courtesy of Mark Mynett on the guitar and two players from the French metal band Misanthrope (guitarist Anthony Scemama guesting on "Aleph" and bassist Jean-Jeaques Moréac playing on all 19 tracks) seem to do little else but provide a solid, reliable platform for Aleph's vocal extrapolations. With Misanthrope well-known for being inspired by Moliere, the concept behind this album suddenly clicks perfectly into place, for we know that in the 17th century Moliere has done more for theatre than what Marilyn Manson ever hoped to do for dark, freaky theatre rock in the 20th.

There are touchingly beautiful, introspective moments on this record too, like Aleph's spirited piano passages on "Butterfly" when she demonstrates that she too is capable of simple, lucid expression of pure feeling, or on the epic "Army of Love" where poignant flamenco moments are highlighted by subtle cello parts. Those are, however, rare occurrences, as most of this record is all about the extravagance and the dazzling artifice of Aleph's unstoppable show which takes her listeners on a voyage as bizarre and fantastic as you can expect of a 21st century metal vaudeville.

If you are a die-hard metalhead, it is not going to be an easy record to instantly fall in love with, but the vulnerability and the sincerity of this artist you will finally uncover underneath all of her pretence, humour and tongue-in-cheek posturing, in the end makes just over an hour of listening to this album time well-spent.
- Hard Rock Haven UK

What the Hell??!!

I was advised to listen to this because of Ayin Aleph's unusual vocal dexterity and approach to her work, and it's utterly mental.

As 'Hamlet' lurches and flutters onwards you're introduced to the concept of Melinda Miel and Nina Hagen battling over a stony rock battlefield. 'My Bloody Marriage' churns more, the vocals pirouetting over grubby guitar, then 'Aleph' starts with a disturbingly guttural voice making way for sweet vocals twisting around frilly piano, before a riff bludgeons delicacy aside and they swoop, rollick and roll madly. Her website makes it clear that Classical, Metal and Baroque music have an equal part to play, as does peculiar melody and a polyphonic approach taken to crazy extremes where she'll lay down a mind-boggling number of vocal tracks. This song is completely bonkers!

'Grey Ashes' must be working more with natural rock parameters except for the soft, urgent vocals twirling, so it's got threshing bursts and then dramatic sensitivity, while 'Butterfly' takes this on with added weight and also stretching out the pauses into glistening strands of madly bouncing energy. 'Bridge' is a cute sliver, quickly receding, as 'Valpurgis Night' rumbles like some smartly appointed rock, although I think that's where the impact gets lost. You either use your voice to shape the surroundings or you allow them to be dictated to. One works, and one doesn't, although she does sound like some demonic entity in a way most blokes must be seriously envious of.

Amid quietly seething guitar 'Sebastian's Prayer' floats on plonking piano and unhinged breathy vocals, and there are times when 'Army Of Love' reminds me of a Metal version of Daisy Chainsaw, if you can imagine such a thing? You have a vicious vocal capability intentionally kept restrained but oscillating like a temperamental human nuclear reactor. It's all a bit weird. By the time 'My Bloody Marriage II' leans at an inviting angle and grin bloody teeth at you I'm used to the style, and looking more for musical invention. I don't really want the thudding drums and gleaming guitar it offers because it takes away from the tinkling severity of the words.

Dour chiming opens 'The Purchase Of The Cathedral' with some conventional organ that unfurls into warbling noir cabaret, channelling Dietrich, which is just getting interesting when the guitar comes barging in and it descends into a metal slugfest followed by a spot of diverting piano.
'Black Roses' ups more spirited drumming and a natural curvature to the vocals so it becomes like something manic and paranormal. There is no thirteenth track as she's obviously superstitious, and then 'Es Muss Sein' comes on like a bellows-powered Faery dive-bombing.

'Alcove Rhapsody' has some far more interesting, mellow guitar and stout thrumming, but it's just a diversion, before it roars and rasps in a conventional manner. 'I Came' returns to the slowly furtive dementia which is rather charming. 'Greed' veers between stormy and dribbling, 'The End' is a taut piano and demure vocals display leading swiftly into 'I Miss You' which eases out on more scarily charismatic vocals, and she can be very scary.

Now obviously the fact this comes accompanied by so much rock ballast/bollocks will be off-putting for most readers, as it was for me, but the interesting thing accompanying this CD was the CD-R glimpse of her second album, which is an acoustic version of this one. Far more captivating, and doubling the intense strangeness, a bit like Kate Bush happy to reside in Bedlam. Now that I can recommend.

Mick Mercer.
- http://www.myspace.com/mickmercer

To be honest, the ‘female voices metal’ scene has always left me quite skeptical, most of these bands sound tasteless to me… But I have to admit that Ayin Aleph’s first opus impressed me by its originality and the vocal skill of the front woman, who comes from a classical music background and composed the entire album by herself. This French-based act, self-defined as ‘Baroque metal’, succeeded in creating an oneiric and immersive world through her lyrics, compositions and visuals. You can find here all the typical ingredients of a dark metal act (romantics, themes taken from medieval legends, and so on) but they’re used with more talent and integrated into a more coherent, theatrical context than by most of this scene’s act. This first (and nevertheless very mature) album contains nothing less than 19 songs which each one contributes, by the story it tells and the atmosphere it creates, to develop Ayin Aleph’s unique imaginary world. The melodies are very efficient (all the piano parts are played by Ayin herself) and helped by loud guitars and pounding drums, the lyrics are poetical and tragic, Ayin’s voice explores a large rank of tones, and the high quality production work finish to make the whole thing convincing. Ayin Aleph: a name to remember… And for those who want to discover this artist live, see you at this year’s edition of the Wave Gothic Treffen in Leipzig… Enjoy ! - Side line www.side-line.com

Ayin Aleph. A lady arriving into the world of metal with a brave, ambitious and certainly different debut album, merely entitled Ayin Aleph I. Described on her Myspace profile as 'a confluence of very different horizons: rock and metal but also some classical influences like the baroque and romantic music' this is one release difficult to pin down in terms of sound.

It's an extremely lengthy and deeply theatrical offering. Dripping in gothic overtones and swimming in haunting atmospheres, the 19 songs on offer implement subtle piano, somber cello and dramatic choir-work against a fierce metal backdrop. Chugging riffs and pounding drums aplenty, the mix is a bizarre hybrid of delicacy and destruction with each song having plenty going on as this twisted journey inside the mind of our female temptress, Ayin, jumps between the lurching doom metal of opener 'Hamlet' to the jazzy piano wanderings of 'The Purchase Of The Cathedral'.

The focal point is of course, Ayin. Our tour guide to this hellish world of chaotic soundscapes, she owns a voice that is as gentle as it is earth-shattering. Her vocals scathingly crawl over a cacophony of piercing guitars in 'Aleph', soar with operatic grace in the dramatic chorus of 'Butterfly', screech in agony at the close of 'Black Roses'. No note is safe, as her ever-changing delivery infuriates as much as it fascinates. She impresses in the sense of a refusal to throw anything other than her entire heart and soul into the album's sprawling ambition and her voice is one of a kind. Though it's one not easy to digest and will alienate many who will no doubt be turned off by such a painful intensity.

'Ayin Aleph I' is desperately hard to rate. A challenging listen, demanding patience, an open mind and maybe a hint of darkness in the soul to truly 'get'. It's a lot to take in, even after several listens, but if you're willing to experiment and aren't afraid of a little insanity in your musical diet..maybe this is for you.
- www.soundshockuk.com UK

Gothic, romantic, baroque, operatic, mad as eggs, are some of the ways you can describe the release by Ayin Aleph. One quick click to her myspace to view her videos sees influences steeped in Tudorism and historical romanticism. It's Ayin Aleph's project. It's her songs, lyrics, performance, imagery and overall direction. The band on this album seem only bit players in a baroque metal opera.

On the first few listens this disc is thoroughly compelling. There are precious few rock albums of such theatrics, dynamics and depth, and to find another one that requires more than a hundred listens to fully appreciate is quite a treat. Ayin has created something that is truly epic. Nineteen tracks break up the album, which includes eight-minute epics and 4 seconds interludes. Piano is a prominent instrument along with the metal backing, but there is also harpsichord and cello to give an extra dimension to the music.

Ayin has obviously immersed herself completely into the world of romantic history, but for this project to come across as successful I think she had to. However, she's probably not done this on purpose, it's more likely that her eccentric side has done this naturally. If the video or artwork requires her to dress up a king, an old, bald man or even some freakish sea creature, then Ayin will oblige.

It is her utterly convincing performance within this whole project that'll make you keep coming back to this album. Her vocals are, at times, reminiscent of Kate Bush, if Kate Bush was in a metal band. Bjork is also similarity, but Bjork when she's spent three years in a mental institute. Throw some late seventies punk and some Siouxsie Sioux into the mix and you may get an idea of the sound of 'Ayin Aleph 1'. In fact, if you can imagine an opera singer who'd had been driven mad out of love and spent twenty years in a mental home. Then a psychiatrist came along and recorded her ramblings, and those recordings were found by a heavy metal band who decided to put some tunes underneath the maniacal utterances, then you may understand the nature of this project.

This is not Goth metal, it's much more than that. It has greater depth. It's not just big chords and huge keyboard sounds. However, I think that a great deal of goth metal fans will find something in Ayin Aleph to adore. It's different, compelling and above all fascinating. But it is an acquired taste. Ayin's vocals are sporadic, operatic and occasionally off the mark. This may grate with many listeners. I have to admit that it took a while to get used to her style because it's so unorthodox. It'll be enough to put people off, but people will love it for the same reason. The nineteen tunes aren't an easy listen and maybe too much for some, but the rewards are there if you can stick with it.

Ah, excellent, the men in the white coats have arrived.
- www.roomthirteen.com UK

Sometimes you will find a band, which you cannot measure by your standard judgement. A person, who sings and plays in such a weird way that it cannot be classified. That's what I think about Ayin Aleph. Born in Russia, now living in France this multi-talented and interesting female artist is... Well, at least unusual. Her music sounds like a hell orchestra playing violated operas, like a storm of passion destroying thick walls of standards and obscurity is everywhere. Yeah, you have bass guitar, other string instruments, drums, keyboards, organs and millions of other various devices, but you also have choirs, angelic singing, throat singing, growls and recitation. Ayin has recorded the entire cd by herself. She performed music on all the instruments, and she provided vocals for the album (and they are really various) – from start to finish. Now that's something. It's not a surprise that the lyrics are also her creation.

To be honest, I am kind of stuck with this review. What should I tell you? That it sounds similar to opera, that Ayin's voice reminds me of Diamanda Galas and her double-microphone madness, Tarja Turunen, Ann-Mari Edvarsen, her sister Monika and many others? Would you like to hear, that I hear (yes, hear – not see) Caravaggio, Monet, Bosch and other famous painters in this music? Maybe I should mention, that it sounds a bit gothic, a bit progressive, and a bit... Sexy? That's not the point. You just need to check it for yourself, as it is like nothing you have heard before. If I would need to give you one band I hear here all the time, it's Devil Doll with their “Dies Irae” - but only to some certain extent. But I can bet that Ayin is equally creative to Mr. Doctor; the major difference is that she looks much better. Ha ha. ,p> There were times, when I was sitting on my favourite chair, wearing my headphones and thinking “yes, this is it – new bits, new stuff I like, but what the hell is it?” It was like that with Atrox, Third and the Mortal, aforementioned Devil Doll, Sikth, Emily Autumn and few other bands. It happens usually once, maybe twice a year. I think that this year's limit is narrowed to one. Give a try to Ayin Aleph. I will not be surprised if you will not like it because this is really weird stuff, running away from any classification. But there is a chance that you have a bit of a bigger mind than a standard Metallica listener, and therefore you may enjoy it. It is definitely worth attention!
- www.metalteamuk.net UK

‚Baroque Metal’ calls the allround artist her work. But is this enough to summarize her enormous work talent? A wave of equipments from piano, cello, guitars and hard Drums, polyphone compound up and produces like a modern opera, breaks over the listener and shifts it skillfully into a colourful world full of contradicting emotions. Exactly the same way Ayin's voice catches the listener, which in all tone qualities whether growling, singing or breath-tenderly whispering, always adequately expresses her lyrical output. A mixture from the emotionality of Beethoven, the tempo alteration of System Of A Down, the voice between Skunk Anansie and Maria Callas, with appropriately gentle piano passages, in addition, heavy guitars, which support Ayins power. Ayin's compositions transform the classical music of Bach into a rapid river. What else can you tell about it? My favorite: "Grey Ashes" - the intensity on its high point! - Sonic Seducer (Germany)