Evanescence
The Open Door

THE REVIEW

Incredible to say. Reviewing an album like this, destined not only for dark music lovers like me but also for a segment of the audience accustomed to the trash circulating on MTV or other similar garbage bins, has proven more difficult than expected. Four months after the release and my immediate purchase of "The Open Door", giving a judgment on Evanescence and their latest effort remains truly challenging for me, perhaps due to the desire to thoroughly assimilate the album before criticizing it freely as many gossiping voices in the music press enjoyed doing upon encountering a product that can be appealing to the masses and that doesn't bear the Iron Maiden signature (mind you, it's impossible to criticize a historic band!). Evanescence have written some of my favorite songs; I could never have deprived myself of listening to their new album, especially considering that among the countless and almost all similar gothic metal bands discovered in recent years, there are few songs that boast reaching emotional peaks comparable to those of "Breathe No More," "Understanding," or "Hello."

I truly didn't know what to expect when I put the disc into the player. If Amy, on the microphones, had long promised us a breath of fresh air, all the new things the band had offered after "Fallen" (the single "Call Me When You're Sober") were imbued with unhealthy air. The listening began, therefore, with some doubts. However, the promises were not denied: the new tracks remain with little or nothing of what we heard in "Fallen".

The changes are noticeable right from the opener "Sweet Sacrifice": the guitars become direct and heavy, bordering on nu-metal. Orchestrations are not in the foreground, they only serve as a complement to the guitars, but this song is destined to remain an isolated episode in the whole. Even regarding the lyrics, we notice a revolution. No more existential dramas, but much more self-confidence: Amy's voice states "fear is only in our minds." And if "Call Me When You're Sober" presents the more "pop" side of the band, the lyrics of this song offer us a splendid depiction of how frustrating a romantic relationship can be at the end of its possibilities for existence. From the third track "Weight of the World", the tones rise; here too, the guitars follow the same scheme as the initial track, but we can find heavy parts followed by calm and reflective sections where we find piano notes reminiscent of a music box sound and an acoustic guitar.
Analogous to what was proposed in "Fallen," one of the highlights is the fourth track. "Lithium" is not, however, a mournful and slow ballad like "My Immortal," but a desperate cry translated into rock music adorned with an elegant dark vein in the elegiac notes of the piano and strings, as well as in Amy's voice, which has improved to scary levels in range and expressiveness. The singer indeed offers operatic hints in parts never excessive and always well dosed in every song of the platter. "Cloud Nine" presents electronic parts and an affected voice, then leads to a truly beautiful chorus and offers us a bridge where piano and guitars duet in syncopated rhythms. "Snow White Queen" is the transposition of Bjork in Evanescence's style. With "Lacrymosa" the passion for operatic choirs and classical music goes beyond the ordinary, even daring to disturb Mozart and his "Requiem," causing shivers down the spine throughout the entire track until the intense final explosion that would even make bands jealous that are much more familiar with classical music (like Nightwish, for example). "Like You" is a beautiful ballad with a romantic flavor imbued with death in which reigns a dark fairy tale atmosphere both in the music and lyrics. "Lose Control" perhaps narrates lost innocence and is irresistibly hypnotic both in the verses where the piano takes the center stage, in the powerful chorus, and in the bridge, until the notes slowly fade away in the closure.
"The Only One" is an invitation not to give up, pain is seen as a common feeling ("we're all suffering, lost and hurt") and, once again, it's Amy's magical piano that gives that extra touch and introduces us to the beautiful "Your Star", yet another perfect synthesis of how far, compared to their past, the band has managed to push themselves, especially concerning lyrical choruses and orchestrations. "All That I'm Living For", with that melancholic string background, its reflective lyrics, and the guitar arpeggio in the verses, would be a perfect song for a soundtrack. In the opening of "Good Enough", played entirely on the piano with the prestigious accompaniment of strings, we perceive a yearning melancholy, which, however, gives room to a wave of deserved optimism with the arrival of Amy's voice creating a real duet with her own instrument, offering us melodies that manage to be as sweet as a dream, like a long-awaited rain gently touching the skin.

Now, I face a realization that, due to the feelings that tied me to "Fallen," I might have forced myself to repress. "The Open Door" is the best among Evanescence's albums. Ben Moody has been defeated, as have the ghosts of the past, namely the excessive but sometimes pointless catchiness, the electronics that never managed to find its ideal placement, the piano unjustly relegated to the background, the sometimes trite and adolescent lyrics, and the static nature of the voice. They may not have a great technical portfolio and construct simple songs from an execution standpoint, but between the rigidity, coldness, and stereotyping of bands where depressed faces marked by tears and romantic feelings steeped in black sometimes purely artificially abounds, Evanescence, with their emotional sincerity, are one of the few groups worthy of success and the right heralds for this genre, which makes strong emotions its own focus.