Simone Simons - "Vermillion"
Turn me to stone if you like, just give me more!
There have been several albums this year by solo female vocalists who might be considered “monolithic”: Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Megan Thee Stallion, Billie Eilish, and Lindsey Stirling. These women are all unmistakable icons in the industry, largely due to their incredible popularity.
But there are also iconic women in more niche genres — artists who stand out and are revered within the communities that form around their specific section of the industry. Simone Simons is one of these — she is a dominant figure in Symphonic Metal, having fronted her band, Epica, for over 20 years now.
Simons first joined Epica when she was 17. She had been their frontwoman since before their first album released, and the band now has eight out (with the most recent, Omega, having released in 2021). Simons is a classically trained vocalist who learned several styles — from opera to jazz — during her teenage years; she was greatly inspired by Tarja Turunen of Nightwish in the 90s, though, so Symphonic Metal is where her heart led her.
For as long as she’s been around, Vermillion is only her first solo effort. I haven’t found anything indicating what inspired her to release a solo album, but she is far from the first female Metal vocalist to do so, especially in recent years.1
She is, however, the first to do so with Arjen Lucassen and Lori Linstruth,2 the amazing duo behind much of my favorite European Metal.3 Their main project is Ayreon (which is how they’re credited in each track’s bylines on Spotify), but if you visit Lucassen’s website, you’ll see that they’ve done a lot of smaller projects, also.
And they’re all amazing.4
So when I learned that Lucassen and Linstruth were tapped to produce Simons’ solo album, I was, understandably, very excited!
And the final product hasn’t disappointed.
Vermillion kicks off its ten-track, 46-minute run with “Aeterna”, which is also the album’s lead single. And “Aeterna”, itself, kicks off with an incredibly fun, catchy instrumental hook — the kind of wildly complex and layered instrumentation that Arjen always strives for; I believe it’s drums, guitar, and at least two synths? Whatever its composition, every version of this hook, throughout, is big and bold and absolutely epic. But the song is also beautifully dynamic, with the instrumentation backing off regularly to ensure that nothing is there to challenge Simons’ vocals during the verses, allowing her to absolutely shine when she’s singing.
To cap it all off, they’ve brought in Gregorian backing vocals. This song has it all. It’s a helluvan opener; “Aeterna” is also the longest track on the album, right at six minutes in length; and only one other breaks the five minute mark, meaning that the majority of the album’s songs are within the duration range which most people find acceptable or approachable.
But even if “Aeterna” is longer than the rest, I do believe it is the perfect opener for the album. It sets the perfect tone, demonstrating a wide range of the compositional concepts at play throughout the rest of the album. Basically, if you can’t get into “Aeterna”, then:
You’re weird; I’m judging you; this is me judging you;5 and
It’s unlikely that any of the other songs will fit your taste.
“Aeterna” is immediately followed by “In Love We Rust”, which is genuinely unfortunate for the latter. It’s still a good song, but the chorus, especially the title line, is very square in its delivery. In direct contrast with the opening track, it just feels kind of stilted. Everything else in this song is still very good, don’t get me wrong; but the chorus repeats that very stiff rhythm too many times throughout the song for it to really play it off or live it down.
The album’s sole feature comes in track 3, “Cradle to the Grave”, which features Alissa White-Gluz (Arch Enemy, ex-The Agonist) on harsh vocals. White-Gluz’s lines include the gem: “Life’s a bitch and then you die”, which is, I think, an excellent segue into the album’s thematic elements.
Broadly speaking, Vermillion is a thoroughly existential affair. Each song, lyrically, deals with inherently human emotions, with life, death, and loss as frequent focal points. The album’s title, Vermillion, draws attention to the use of the color red throughout the album6 — it’s used as a sort of lyrical highlighter for varied (intense) emotions.
Many of the songs, such as “Cradle to the Grave”, “The Core”, and “Dystopia”, deal with fundamental issues in society and our reality as we have, collectively, made it. Lyrically, “Dystopia” also feeds directly into “R.E.D.” (tracks 8 & 9), going from our present reality to a potential future in which the machines have risen up. The latter also flips the album’s use of the color red on its head — the machines cannot feel the way humans do thus the line early in the song: “Emotions wild and free/For me to replicate.” They also bastardize the color into a directive: “Rise. Evolve. Dominate” (the directive changes throughout the song, but always along those lines).
It’s a clever twist on the album’s own motif. “Dystopia” and “R.E.D.” are also two of the album’s best songs (on an album full of incredibly good songs).
Overall, the album is diverse and dynamic. There are a lot of styles and influences at play throughout. Between Simons’ excellent vocal work and the incredible compositions from Lucassen and Linstruth, these many elements fuse masterfully into a cohesive album with mountains of skill on full display.
It isn’t quite perfect, but it’s going to be a welcome addition to my year-end list, and I feel confident in stating now that it’s definitely going to be a top 20 contender.
Rating: Blue
Anneke van Giersbergen (ex-The Gathering, VUUR, and several Lucassen projects) has been releasing solo albums for a while, but her folk-rock The Darkest Skies Are the Brightest was one of my favorite albums in 2021.
Sharon den Adel (Within Temptation) launched a solo project called My Indigo in 2017 and released an album in 2018. The project was born out of a need to break out of her songwriting comfort zone, and there is only the one album to-date.
Both Tarja Turunen and Anette Olzon launched solo careers after splitting from Nightwish. They both now have more solo albums than they ever recorded with Nightwish.
I also want to note, because it’s interesting, that these two are the only entries on this list, including Simone Simons, who aren’t Dutch. Turunen and Olzon are Finnish and Swedish, respectively.
Charlotte Wessels split from Delain in 2021 to pursue a solo career, dropping albums in ‘21 & ‘22. Her third album actually releases tomorrow (9/20/2024).
Floor Jansen, the third (and current) Nightwish vocalist, released her first solo album, Paragon, last year.
You may notice, as I discuss Lucassen and Linstruth, mixed possessive pronouns. Technically, Ayreon, et al, are Lucassen’s projects. But he and Linstruth have been in this long-term romantic and professional relationship for about twenty years now. They are partners in every sense of the word; Linstruth is also, officially, Lucassen’s manager.
I love everything about them.
To be clear, “European Metal” isn’t a genre, but it does often feel like its own scene with an entirely different vibe from American Metal. Lucassen’s projects often pull elements from Prog, Power, Symphonic, and classic Heavy styles, but also utilize a lot of electronic and industrial elements and literally all of the synth.
If this is the first time you’ve read a review where I’ve diverted to gush on Lucassen and friends…you must be new here! Welcome!
Music taste isn’t objective, of course. I’m joking.
Mostly.
Admittedly, not frequently enough. I haven’t counted instances, but I’m not sure that it’s half of the songs.