Band:	Jarell
Album:	Hidden Side
Style:	Gothenburg metal, Metalcore
Release date:	October 2008

01. Diplomatic Missile
02. Ephemere
03. Hidden Side Of Democracy
04. HGW
05. Nobody Will Stay Alive
06. Aux Malheurs Des Hommes
07. La Voie Humide
08. Through The Age Of Shame
09. Enabling Break
10. Smoking
11. Die Morgen

"Hidden Side" is a super new discovery from France. First album of a young combo, Jarell, this release with a lot of faces will probably find a lot of fans all around France and maybe Europe. If you like modern Metal, and fusions between the genres, I'm quite sure that you'll like this album. No doubt, for a first release, this is already a success!

Jarell is a young band and like a lot of newcomers, they're clearly influenced by the trends and the bands which are popular nowadays. For sure, Gothenburg Death and Metalcore styles are featured in this release and you'll be able to find big heavy riffs with blasting drums and melodic choruses. Though here, the compositors of Jarell have put a lot of other things in the music which give a real originality and personality to their sound. The songs are divided in violent and calm passages (some even are a bit atmospheric, but not slow in any way), the vocals (in English but also some few times in French) can be Death or clean but the strong points in the music of Jarell come from the electronic and Indus influences that we can find on the songs. Jarell is a bit like Scarve and plays a really technical modern Death Metal which is always mixed with powerful Indus sounds a la Fear Factory. This excellent mix gives a futuristic aspect to the Death Metal of the combo. Sure this is not classic Death a la Morbid Angel and you'll have to like "modern" Metal but if you was into Fear Factory or even Devin Townsend and want to see how it could sound with a big Swedish Death influence, you'll maybe have a good representation with "Hidden Side".

The release is well mixed and I really like the voice of Krys which can be powerful but also really touching despite its violence. The musicians are good and the keyboard, in reason of the numerous electronic sounds, is one of the lead instruments of the band. Maybe that some solid guitars soli are missing sometime, but it doesn't mean that the songs are poor. At the opposite the songs are all really complex with a lot of different passages breaks and etc. In addition, you must know that the lyrics are really engaged and talk about politic stuff and human being problems. Sure it's a matter of taste and opinion but at least this is not simple stories about dungeons and dragons.

With "Hidden Side" Jarrel proves through this first album that they're already at the top of the French Metal scene. Really people will have to understand that France is not anymore a poor Metal country. True, the bands are not yet very popular but they're able to do great things and "Hidden Side" is a living proof of this fact. "Hidden Side" is not perfect and maybe lacks a bit of Mega Hit, but the band has a real personality and in the future they will release great albums, I'm sure of it. If you want to listen to cool modern Death Metal, "Hidden Side" is highly recommended.