Mysterious goth metal band Walk in Darkness return with their fourth album, Leaves Rolling in Time, featuring Nicoletta Rosellini (Kalidia) on vocals.
Walk in Darkness is one of those interesting bands who prefer to let the music speak for them. Promo pictures are all of hooded figures, faces obscured except for the female vocalist Nicoletta Rosseline (Kalidia). The band originates from Italy, but other than that, information is scarce. The band has videos on YouTube that have been viewed over 12 million times, so they definitely have created a fan base. The album was recorded, mixed, and mastered at Virus Recording Studio with sound engineering by Alessandro Guaconi. For Leaves Rolling in Time, the band brought in a couple extra vocalists, with Emiliano Pasquinelli (ex-Thuchulca) handling the dark growled vocals and Elisabetta Bettini (Two of Spades) contributing some lines on the song “My Restless Wings”.
Once again, here is another band I knew nothing about prior to getting this album to review and now I have a few more albums to go back and listen to. From the very first listen without looking up any information on the band, I was pretty sure there was more than one vocalist for the female vocals, but as it turns out there is just one, Nicoletta Rosselini (Kalidia) and that should tell you quite a bit about here range and talent, very strong lower register and powerfully beautiful upper register.
Overall, the sound of Walk in Darkness reminded me a bit of Evanescence, but with a stronger emphasis on gothic and symphonic metal. Nicoletta’s vocals are at a level all their own and the songs constructed in such a way to take advantage of her talents. “Ships to Atlantis”, a song filled with orchestral moments, a dark overall feeling and expertly layered vocals that display immediately, Nicoletta’s range. The song itself is peaceful and haunting and sets the tone for the rest of the album.
“Leaves Rolling in Time” is one of the longer songs on the album at nearly 7 minutes and highlights the complexity to songs the band can bring. Quiet acoustic guitar opens the track and gives space for some upper register vocals before the dark growled death metal vocals and full band come in, completely changing the tone until Nicoletta’s lower, haunting vocals and the acoustic guitar take back control. From there the song twists and turns and never loses intensity.
“Bent by Storms and Dreams” and “Get Away” both carry a heavier, driving guitar riff and lower vocals and both feature the quieter, ambient sections that highlight layered vocals and the work of the rhythm section to keep the songs moving. Throughout the album, some of the chorus sections have a familiar feel and that is especially true for me in “Get Away” which also features a brief guitar solo that fits well within the song.
The band chose the song “Elizabeth” for a lyric video and fittingly from that one can see Nicoletta while the rest of the band when shown are in hooded robes as in the promotional photos. The song opens with some acoustic guitar and some haunting, lower vocals and then builds into the full band joining in and a brief guitar fill before the vocals become more forceful. The song shifts between the quiet and calm to sections with more urgency and maintains a darker feel throughout and is one of those that sticks with you long after it is over.
The version of the album I have has two versions of the song “No Oxygen in the West”. The album version starts out with some electronic elements and a piano before the clean vocals come in. A somewhat brighter chorus section sets the song apart from others on the album and some layered vocals really work well in the track. The bonus version (Shaman version) of the track has a darker starting tone and features some deep clean, male vocals complemented by Nicoletta’s in a near duet, which to my ears makes the song much stronger and more intense than the album version. Including both versions on the album show the thought and skill that has gone into the compositions as the same song feels very different depending on approach..and both are great.
Leaves Rolling in Time is one of those albums that I’ll find myself going back to over and over. The songs are complex and haunting, performances are strong and the compositions designed to take advantage of the strength and beauty in Nicoletta’s vocals without solely relying on them.
Rating: 9/10
Written by John Jackson
Tracklist
- Ships to Atlantis
- Leaves Rolling in Time
- Bent by Storms and Dreams
- Get Away
- Walk Close to Me
- No Oxygen in the West
- The Last Glow of Day
- Ellizabeth
- No Oxygen in the West (Shaman version) (Bonus Track)
Band Members
Nicoletta Rosellini (Kalidia) – Vocals
Shaman – Leader, Guitars
Monkey Key – Bass
Arcanus – Drums
Organus – Keyboards
Release Date: 20 January 2023
Record Label: Beyond the Storm Productions
Discography:
2017: In the Shadows of Things (Independent – Beyond the Storm Productions re-issue 2021)
2018: Welcome to the New World (Independent – Beyond the Storm Productions re-issue 2021)
2020: On the Road to Babylon (Independent – Beyond the Storm Productions re-issue 2021)
2023: Leaves Rolling in Time (Beyond the Storm Productions)
Walk in Darkness online: Website / Facebook / YouTube
Lyric video for ‘Elizabeth’
Video for ‘Leaves Rolling in Time’
Video for ‘No Oxygen In The West’
Video for ‘Walk Close To Me’
