AESMA DAEVA - The Thalassa Mixes (EP) on sale

8 / 10TRACKLIST:01. The Tizsa’s Child – Sunken Cathedral Mix02. The Garden I Long For03. The Loon – Thalassa Mix04. The Loon – Swamp MixENGLISHFrom the depth of the sea, as heavenly sounds of gentle mermaids, go back up melodious notes, express by the aesmA Daeva’s Gothic Symphonic melody, across a mix of songs already belong to aforesaid band…here for you a wonderful work, “The Thalassa Mixes”.Sounds rose by hid reality, angelical chorus, epic and fanciful melodies, contained in “The Tizsa’s – Sunken Cathedral”, first track of this most particular album. John Prassas’ guitar is too direct, aimed to increase the halo of charm that wraps the song and the voice so incredible and delightful of the singer Lori Lewis enchants for her melodic power…“Arise, hear my lullaby, how I wreck my broken love, upon unlived lives. Vast river, dark water, I drown in lament endlessly”. Obscure sounds, howls, suffused voices open the second track “The Garden I Long For”, really wonderful, an acoustic guitar accompaniment, light, simple, so thrilling, an hearing deligth. “Upon the lake, upon the windless water, swim down to me, beautiful bird. Mercy, stay not forever out of reach. I hear, I hear your evening song, strange alien song”…introduced to us “The Loon – Thalassa Mix” by essential, orchestral sounds, melodious chorus, an incredible heavenly voice, an essence of strings that makes dream…“Here I Choke” repeat to us, “Here I Choke”…as the last track is reproduced to us the already described “The Loon – Swamp Mix”, widened by a trembled guitar and by a bass guitar that knows when engrave, then the atmosphere is so hard, to much mysterious, inclined to an epic legend, specified by ghostly sounds…“Old age, my god, love, and white this blizzard night, all songs strangle under ice, flame out, and die, forsaken evermore, linger frozen everlasting song”.A perfect work of mixing. A wonderful album, so particular. Enchant melody.22-12-2008 |by Black Butterfly

The Thalassa MixesRating: 4.5/5Here is a short four-track EP built on their latest album Dawn of the New Athens. This disc takes on something of an underwater theme, featuring samples from whale vocals and the overall mood becoming much more subdued. The whole concept and style lends itself more to the ethereal and goth realms though the solid metal foundation remains intact, along with the recognizable symphonic metal style this band has come to be known for."Tisza's Child (Sunken Cathedral)" kicks off this work in much the same fashion as the original with the exception of the added underwater whale vocal samples. The percussion is much more medieval sounding with timpani rather than a heavy bass and snare kick, the crashing cymbals are still there along with the grinding metal guitars, though it takes a bit longer to build up to this style than the original. This is truly an excellent, dreamy track from this band and an excellent remix that fans will love. "The Garden I Long For" is unique to this disc and is an excellent addition to this artist's library. It very slowly builds once again through the calls of whales and underwater abyss and is dominated by some beautiful classic acoustic guitar that is absolutely stunning and in their own way become the unspoken vocals for this instrumental piece. "Loon" appears twice to finalize the disc with two different mixes. The "Thalassa" mix is a dreamy, ethereal version of this track with the occasional symphonic brass and strings kicking in once in a while for the occasional accent. The "Swamp" mix is dark and moody, moving slowly along adding first just some subtle instruments, then grinding guitar and subtle bass. All of this builds to the heavier, dark metal sound as it continues to slowly move along, building more and more to a climax for an excellent take on this piece.It's short, but sweet nonetheless. The structures of these pieces are similar enough to recognize from the originals, but different enough to make it worth picking them up and enjoying to their full potential. This is dark and moody, yet dreamy and ethereal symphonic metal as only Aesma Daeva can do.Rating: 4.5/5

Metal MaidensAESMA DAEVA-The Thalassa Mixes (EP)8 out of 10AESMA DAEVA are a female fronted symphonic metal band from Minnesota. They have actually been around for a number of years with their debut album being released in 1999. Ex-VISIONS OF ATLANTIS Melissa Ferlaak even passed through their ranks at one time. The latest release from AESMA DAEVA is a four song, twenty-six minute EP, titled "The Thalassa Mixes". The band is currently fronted by strong operatic vocalist Lori Lewis. She is joined by the following musicians: John Prassas (guitar/composer) and Chris Quinn (bass).The CD begins with eight minute "Tisza's Child - Sunken Cathedral". The opening of the song combines some cool sounding orchestration combined with Lori Lewis's operatic vocal delivery and some other sound effects - giving it a movie soundtrack-like feel to it. The track moves along at a very deliberate pace, but it is still a powerful number. This is a big sounding track that really weaves a majestic sound-scape. Next is "The Garden I Long For". A melancholic instrumental, that is quite peaceful and serene. A bit of a change of pace and sets a definite mood. Next up we have "Loon - Thalassa", Lori Lewis definitely takes center stage here. This is another slower track that features some more orchestration. This leads us into the final track "Loon - The Swamp". This track is a fine way to end things as the band utilize more orchestra arrangements, this time in conjunction with a heavy guitar riff that just keeps building and building. The two styles gel nicely together and gives the track an epic feel. Lori Lewis has also worked with the Swedish band THERION on a couple of their previous releases and tours. After listening to her work with AESMA DAEVA, it's easy to see why she got the job. After listening to "The Thalassa Mixes" and going back and re-visiting their previous works from AESMA DAEVA, it is beyond me why worldwide success have eluded this band. It's true that this style of music may be an acquired taste for some, but there is no denying the musicianship and talent that are on display here.This is operatic, symphonic metal at it's best.[8 out of 10 points] (Tony Cannella)