GODYVA – In Good And Evil

In order to avoid any potential confusion about the album In Good And Evil, it’s the new release from the Italian Metal band Godyva, not the Swiss Metal band Godiva: the Italians play a Gothic/Epic style of Metal with female vocals, whilst Godiva specializes in riff-laden “Heavy Metal Thunder.” There’s only a letter’s worth of difference between the names, but stylistically both bands are quite different.

Anyhow, In Good And Evil is the first full-length album from Godyva, following their 2002 demo, Advent. The album is twelve tracks of atmospheric Gothic Metal, with catchy riffs, multi-layered vocals from lead singer Lady Godyva (who apparently doesn’t sing naked), hook-laden choruses, and fairly prominent keyboards. Several songs feature operatic vocal passages too.

While In Good And Evil might be a Gothic-sounding album, the songs are mostly mid-paced and generally have an upbeat feel to them. Some tunes have an epic atmosphere, thanks to a big production that adds some nice audio and vocal effects, and several songs have complex backing vocals. Keyboards are well-used on In Good And Evil, and the ivories of a piano get tickled here and there.

Godyva doesn’t break any new ground with In Good And Evil, as the album follows the standard “epic” Gothic Metal blueprint fairly closely. The trilling female vocals, lush ambience, large instrumental passages, keyboards snaking their way through the songs, subtle electronic effects and tricks, spoken-word intros, brief moments of calm before the storm, soft whispers; it’s all here. It’s nothing really new or original.

But still, what’s on this album is done well: the members of Godyva are quite good at what they do, in terms of songwriting, composition, and actual playing. Lady Godyva delivers some very interesting vocals on this disc; she has quite a bit of range, and puts it to good use without overdoing it. The riffs of guitarist Frahn don’t smack you in the face, but they’re both solid and plentiful. Overbaked keyboards can be the undoing of many an album, but they’re done well here, adding a lot to songs like the title track, “Soul Desert,” and “Purified.” Some of the keyboard work on the album is actually cool, and adds a lot to the music.

All the songs on In Good And Evil are generally solid, but a few have a tendency to hang around in the background and not do a lot. These songs are in the minority though, and stuff such as “Intimate,” “Flame Flower,” “Cold,” and “Broken Angel” make a good impression.

Godyva has come up with a strong debut with In Good And Evil, and it’s recommended to fans of female-fronted Gothic Rock.