Voici des articles récents sur Angel Smile, parus dans la presse ou sur internet :
www.metalreviews.com
Angel Smile is a Switzerland based band (Geneva to be more exact) that really got it's start when lead vocalist David Perrelet (who owned a music store at the time) struck up a conversation about musical ideas with a guitarist, Emanuel Clivez, who came into the store and proceeded in brilliantly executing a Dream Theater solo.
The seeds were sown for what was to become Angel Smile. The band has existed since 1995 and other members include Claude Salvador, keyboards, Alex Brun, drums, and Arnaud Neri, bass.
We've previously reviewed their first self-financed 8 song demo, Winter On The Roof.
This five song demo was recorded by the band and is again self-financed (would somebody please sign these guys!). They are currently trying to land a contract with a label to release it.
The sound of this band is very diverse and varied. Some elements are very progressively flavored with some nice soft guitar and voice passages. Some of the quieter spoken style vocals with quiet clean guitar really bring classic Marillion to mind (actually a favorite band of lead vocalist David Perrelet).
Most songs feature some more heavy aggressive guitar, adding a very hard edge to their sound. The contrast between the soft quiet parts and the crunching heavy parts offers a nice refreshing change to what bands like this normally sound like.
They offer up some very unique and interesting arrangements with "Final Day" employing Dream Theater, Kansas style abstract keyboard/guitar riffing. The song features some very cool instrumental breaks and is broken up nicely by some quiet acoustic guitar.
"Stand Off" is a catchy track that mixes classic progressive textures and has a nice mix of very spirited vocals and riffing mixed in with some more menacing voices and heavier chunkier guitar.
"Don't Die" is the power ballad on this release and has some nice acoustic guitar work and some powerful emotional vocals.
"Springtime" is more on the heavier side than most tracks on this demo and uses keyboard orchestration to produce a nice effect. It has a good chorus and mixes some almost funky style rhythms with more aggressive ones.
"Winter On the Roof" has a more thematic style and begins with a quiet and dramatic intro. A mix of quiet and heavy guitar parts eventually builds to a big, powerful climax with power chord riffs and soaring vocals.
I like this band. I'm also a big fan of progressive rock (besides metal) and this band mixes the two styles quite well.
They have created a very diverse sound encompassing many different styles of metal and progressive rock.
The only fault would be that I found the singer's voice a little cold and could really use some more emotion and feel. Other than that, he has a great voice.
From one song to the next, it's hard to believe that you're listening to the same band. Their sound is a little too diversified and it's hard to pick up a distinctive style or character for this band.
With a little work on polishing their approach and being more focussed in their musical direction, I would expect great things from this band.
Fans of such bands as Dream Theater, Everon, Requiem etc. and fans of good progressive metal should keep watch for this band.
I have a good feeling about their future and if (when) they sign a recording contract, I really am looking forward to hearing their debut full length album.
Killing Songs : "Final Day" and "Winter On The Roof".
http://theprogressreport.gq.nu
"Winter On the Roof" is a demo cd from a very promising band from Switzerland called, Angel Smile.
At this time the band is looking for the right record company to work with. This should be no problem as the band seems to be very polished and professional and should attract a lot of label attention once this cd is heard by the right people.
I guess if you had to put a tag on this band, you could call them Prog/metal.
The first track "Stand Off" is a real rocker that is a mix of commercial and metal rock. The band shows a lot of versatility here.
Track two "The Final Day" is more straightforward prog metal with a lot of mood changes. This is a very strong song. Maybe a little Pain of Salvation or Vanden Plas in this tune. Over 7 minutes of high quality metal here.
Track three, "Don't Die", is a more mellow song with a very haunting sound that fits perfectly between "the Final Day" and track four "Springtime".
"Springtime" is a mid tempo song and heavier than the previous tracks. The vocalist, David Perrelet, shows his ability to fit his voice to the music's dynamics. This song would be very popular with people who are into the modern metal scene.
"Winter On The Roof" at over 8 minutes is the highlight of this very well done mini album.
All the musicians, Alex Brun on drums, Emanuel Clivaz guitarist, Claude Salvador on keyboards, and Arnaud Neri on bass, are very capable musicians and have produced a fine demo here.
Rember the name "Angel Smile" I have a feeling That you're going to hear a lot from this band.
http://www.strutter.8m.com
This band from Switzerland has an own style on their demo CDR 'Winter on the roof'.
The CDr has a good production, and musically they like to be called a Progressive Nu-Metal band, and actually I can agree in some ways, because the band is mixing elements of modern metal with traditional classic melodic heavy rock/progressive metal.
I hope they drop the modern metal influences next time, because the songs are a few times disturbed by heavy modern metal influences.
You can hear that clearly on the long groovy metal songs "Final day" and "Springtime".
The best songs are the uptempo melodic rocker "Stand off", the calmer semi ballad "Don't die" and closing track "Winter on the roof" (AXXIS type of heavy melodic rock).
I hope next time the Modern/Nu-Metal influences are left out, because ANGEL SMILE proves they can make some really good melodic heavy rock/metal.
http://sfam.free.fr
Angel Smile est un groupe suisse relativement expérimenté né en 1995 par la rencontre fortuite de deux musiciens dans un magasin de musique de Genève.
Progressif éclectique est l'expression hybride qui caractérise le mieux le style d'Angel Smile, en témoigne les influences des cinq musiciens : David Perrelet (Chant), Emmanuel Clivaz (Guitares), Claude Salvador (Claviers), Arnaud Neri (Basse), Alex Brun (Batterie) couvrant des goûts musicaux allant de Yes à Ravi Shankar en passant par la variété française ou le Drum N' Bass.
Tous ont cependant une influence commune: Dream Theater évidemment !
Les compositions varient donc entre un rock parfois mélancolique et un metal progressif assez musclé relativement peu démonstratif mais efficace.
Les différentes oeuvres du groupe ont en commun une recherche harmonique et sonore qui augmentent l'intérêt de mouvements "acédémico-traditionnels" propre au progressif.
Une des forces du groupe réside également dans l'assimilation des compositions par des auditeurs externes, les refrains de morceaux tels que Waiting For (premier single) ou Final Day (Winter Of The Roof) vous envahiront dès la première écoute, et vous vous surprendrez à les fredonner plusieurs jours, voire plusieurs semaines après.
La presse locale ne s'y est d'ailleurs pas trompée en publiant des articles très positifs sur les différentes prestations et productions du groupe.
L'oeuvre d'Angel Smile est constituée aujourd'hui de trois briques importantes :
· Le single Waiting For entièrement autoproduit en 1999 et introduisant le groupe sur le devant de la scène suisse.
· La Demo Winter on the roof - the draft album : demo 8 titres également autoproduite en 2000, dessinant une esquisse du futur album, et permettant au groupe de confirmer son identité progressive.
· Et enfin l'album Winter on the roof : reprenant et arrangeant une partie des titres de la demo suscitée. Toujours autoproduit, en studio professionnel, le groupe s'appuie aujourd'hui sur cette production pour démarcher les labels et producteurs.
Evoquer la perséverance, le travail, la maturité naissante, la constance et l'expérience d'Angel Smile devrait vous encourager à découvrir au plus vite ce groupe prometteur et ambitieux !
