The Human Contradiction

The Human Contradiction is the fourth studio album by the Dutch symphonic metal band Delain. It was released on 4 April 2014 in Europe, and on 8 April 2014 in North America.

The Human Contradiction
Studio album by
Delain
Released4 April 2014
Recorded2014
StudioWisseloord Studios and Graveland Studios, Hilversum, Netherlands (drums),
Spacelab Studios, Grefrath, Germany (guitars),
Guus Eiken headquarters
GenreSymphonic metal[1]
Length41:56
LabelNapalm
ProducerMartijn Westerholt
Delain chronology
Interlude
(2013)		 The Human Contradiction
(2014)		 Lunar Prelude
(2016)
Singles from The Human Contradiction
  1. "Your Body Is a Battleground"
    Released: 7 March 2014
  2. "Stardust"
    Released: 2 April 2014
  3. "Sing to Me"
    Released: 6 May 2015

The album features guest appearances from Alissa White-Gluz (Arch Enemy, ex-The Agonist), Marco Hietala (Nightwish, Tarot) and George Oosthoek (MaYaN, ex-Orphanage).

Background

According to lead singer Charlotte Wessels, the album's title was inspired by Octavia E. Butler's science fiction trilogy Lilith's Brood. 'The Human Contradiction' refers to humans in general being highly intelligent and hierarchically structured at the same time. The songwriting, however, was not influenced by Lilith's Brood but continues the theme of being different that was portrayed by Delain's previous album We Are the Others.[2] It charted at number 25 on the Official Album Charts in their native country of Netherlands, as well as charting at number 44 on the Official Album Charts in the United Kingdom.

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
All About The Rock8/10[3]
Metal Hammer Germany5/7[4]
Sonic Seducer6.15/10[5]

A joint review by 10 Sonic Seducer writers found that The Human Contradiction was a well-produced gothic metal album oriented towards Within Temptation, but without any new impulses.[5] A reviewer for the Decibel magazine wrote, too, that the album contained nothing new, but was well crafted.[6] According to Metal Hammer Germany, The Human Contradiction was in fact different than other releases by Delain in that it contained a tiny musical allowing Charlotte Wessels to present the full range of her voice. The reviewer noted though that the album was "too hard for sophisticated pop, [and] too shallow to have any rocking depth."[4] Matt Farrington for All About The Rock said "It would be nice to see them pushing the boundaries more to see what else can be delivered. That said it would be a tough task for them to deliver a better record than April Rain back in 2009".[3]

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Charlotte Wessels; all music is composed by Guus Eikens, Charlotte Wessels and Martijn Westerholt (except where noted).

No.TitleLength
1."Here Come the Vultures"6:05
2."Your Body Is a Battleground" (featuring Marco Hietala)3:50
3."Stardust"3:57
4."My Masquerade"3:43
5."Tell Me, Mechanist" (featuring George Oosthoek)4:52
6."Sing to Me" (featuring Marco Hietala)5:09
7."Army of Dolls"4:57
8."Lullaby"4:56
9."The Tragedy of the Commons" (featuring Alissa White-Gluz)4:31
Total length:41:56
Digipak bonus disc
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
10."Scarlet" 4:36
11."Don't Let Go" 3:56
12."My Masquerade" (Live from the My Masquerade concert, Haarlem 8 November 2013) 5:02
13."April Rain" (Live from the My Masquerade concert, Haarlem 8 November 2013)Martijn Westerholt, Charlotte Wessels4:45
14."Go Away" (Live from the My Masquerade concert, Haarlem 8 November 2013)Martijn Westerholt, Guus Eikens, Charlotte Wessels3:42
15."Sever" (Live from the My Masquerade concert, Haarlem 8 November 2013)Martijn Westerholt4:54
16."Stay Forever" (Live from the My Masquerade concert, Haarlem 8 November 2013)Martijn Westerholt, Ronald Landa, Charlotte Wessels4:31
17."Sing to Me" (Orchestra version) 3:41
18."Your Body Is a Battleground" (Orchestra version) 3:20
Total length:38:32

Personnel

Delain

Guest musicians
  • Marko Hietala - clean male vocals (2, 6)
  • George Oosthoek - death growls (5)
  • Alissa White-Gluz - death growls & clean female backing vocals (9)
  • Georg Neuhauser - backing vocals (9)
  • Guus Eikens - additional guitars
  • Oliver Philipps - additional guitars, arrangements, engineer (vocals)
  • Mike Coolen, Ruben Israel - additional drums
  • Mikko P. Mustonen - orchestration

Production
  • Arno Krabman - engineer (drums)
  • Ad Sluijter - engineer (guitars)
  • Christian Moos - engineer (guitars), mixing
  • André Zoer - engineer (live recordings)
  • Fredrik Nordström, Henrik Udd - mixing
  • Ted Jensen - mastering at Sterling Sound, New York
  • Das Buro - artwork and design
  • Sandra Ludewig - photography

Charts
Chart (2014) Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[7] 65
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[8] 90
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[9] 25
French Albums (SNEP)[10] 106
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[11] 40
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[12] 185
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[13] 24
UK Albums (OCC)[14] 44
UK Rock Chart (OCC)[15] 2
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[16] 8

References
  1. http://www.soniccathedral.com/webzine/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1045&Itemid=0
  2. Kriegs, Masi (2014). "Delain: Descartes und Voltaire kommen in eine Bar" [Delain: Descartes and Voltaire walk into a Bar]. Sonic Seducer (in German). Vol. 21 no. 4. p. 42.
  3. Farrington, Matt (16 April 2014). "Delain – The Human Contradiction". All About The Rock. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  4. Ahlig, Enrico (31 March 2014). "Delain – The Human Contradiction". Metal Hammer (in German). Retrieved 14 April 2014. Für anspruchsvollen Pop zu hart, für rockigen Tiefgang zu seicht.
  5. Vogel, Thomas; Schäfer, Torsten; Abresche, Thomas; Karstedt, Jörn; Duchateau, Yvonne; Reinbold, Kai; Pilgrim, Thomas; Gnuch, Kym; Rössler, Erik; Medusa (2014). "Soundcheck". Sonic Seducer (in German). Vol. 21 no. 4. p. 77.
  6. Begrand, Adrien (9 April 2014). "Sucker For Punishment: Well, Don't Die Just Yet". Decibel. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
  7. "Ultratop.be – Delain – The Human Contradiction" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  8. "Ultratop.be – Delain – The Human Contradiction" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  9. "Dutchcharts.nl – Delain – The Human Contradiction" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  10. "Lescharts.com – Delain – The Human Contradiction". Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  11. "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  12. ヒューマン・コントラディクション (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  13. "Swisscharts.com – Delain – The Human Contradiction". Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  14. "Delain | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  15. "2014 Top 40 Rock & Metal Albums Archive: 19th April 2014". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  16. "Delain Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
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