Vices and Adulation was founded in 2013, West Midlands singer, Lucy-may Upton, is a published poet, highly skilled artist and is entirely self-trained. The musician of the band is Fabian Upton. He has not studied music but plays by ear and by memorizing patterns. He is the current and four year 8 finger tapping guitar champion at GuitarWar.com and one time sweep picking guitar champion.
Vices and Adulation started out in Feb 2013, when their first instrumental album released. Their first vocal single “Dragon Princess” was released in March this year and won the Akademia Award for Best Alternative Rock Song. The band’s new vocal single “Sounds of the Hallway” has also recently been released.
Ok, you have to keep in mind that this kind of music is not going to be for everybody. You’re not likely to hear it on the radio, or on MTV, because it is music as an art form. It is not adulterated by commercialism due to the monetary interests of any record company’s desire to attract a brainless audience so they can cash in and run happily to the bank. This is a complex musical art.
With that in mind, Vices and Adulation is simply an amazing band, in the mold of Evanescence, Lacuna Coil and Nightwish to cite a few. It took me a while to come across an indie band within this genre again, but here it is.
Their music is well orchestrated, and Lucy’s voice is strangely beautiful as she floats and fluctuates between notes, giving you the impression she is sliding into limbo, somewhere between the musical keys, and you can never predict exactly where she will end up on the next phrase.
Fabian on the other hand constructs complex and polished pieces of metal rock music. The vocals supported by his tight basslines, rhythm riffs, guitar solos, and orchestral-type arrangements, puts the listener into an adrenaline soaring, head banging, yet refined euphoric state. Vices and Adulation mix dark metal, classic vocals, theatric orchestration, and synthesizers together with great success.
They have created a solid catalogue in only a few months with the release of their instrumental album “Peurile Peridot” and their vocal single releases, “Dragon Princess” and “Sounds of the Hallway”.
The first time I heard this band, I was completely blown away. The second, third, and now fourth time I have heard them, I’m still blown away. This is Goth-rock, symphonic rock and metal taken to astronomical heights, complete with superbly composed music and incredible production quality for an indie act. Fabian Upton plays like a demon on fire, yet each riff, shred or solo is tastefully controlled all through these songs, and your jaw will drop by just how good he sounds.
Vices and Adulation have blended elements of opera, classical, heavy metal and Goth-rock all into one. To say the sound is larger than life would be an understatement. They know what they’re doing and they do it well. From the moment I heard the first track to the end, their music was nothing short of perfection!
The arrangements of the songs are fantastic and it gets you pumped right away and keeps you pumped to the end. Tracks like “A Blazing Shroud”, “Let’s Go”, “Gritty”, “Chasing The Skyline” and “Hypnotic Tap”, a song with a great melody line, are extremely exciting tracks mixed with vocal songs such as, “Sounds of the Hallway” and “Dragon Princess”, which showcases Lucy-may Upton’s fairy-like voice.
Vices and Adulation is melodic, and yet powerful. The angelic vocals of Lucy, the forceful performances of Fabian, combined with the crunching guitar and rhythmic riffs give this album a diverse sound that will enthrall you. I highly recommend this album to anyone whom is a fan of melodic metal music.
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