Belle Morte – Crime of Passion
Release Date: 25th June 2021
Label: Wormholedeath
Bandcamp
Genre: Gothic Metal, Symphonic Metal.
FFO: Lacuna Coil, To-Mera, Adagio.
Review By: Lucas Di Mascio
Crime of Passion is the band’s first full length, and Belle Morte does a great job of blending progressive elements into a gothic metal backdrop. To get this out of the way early, there are a lot of genre elements that were expected in this release- keyboard-laden intros being one of them, moody atmospheres and haunting vocals. Belle Morte doesn’t do anything fresh with the gothic conventions- what stands out over the typical gothic elements are the progressive elements and over-the-top guitar solos. However they do something with their gothic elements that, while not groundbreaking, is refreshing. I haven’t heard bands utilize these specific gothic conventions well in years.
The song structures are great- nothing felt like it dragged on and there seemed to be conscious songwriting decisions as far as the flow of the songs. None of the progressive “left-turns” felt out of place, but added some flavour to the compositions. After the instrumental intro (Overture) the song Who Are You? gets right to business with some great guitar riffs and classic gothic pianos and strings. At times in this song I felt that the vocals were just not quite “there” performance-wise. Belle herself has a pleasant voice but there’s some strange melody choices that are a little more avant-garde that took me a while to get accustomed to. I’m a huge fan of gothic metal: Tiamat, Paradise Lost– even of goth rock bands like Fields of the Nephilim and Johnny Hollow. Those bands have some pretty different vocal styles and Belle Morte definitely fits in that category.
This isn’t a symphonic metal band like Nightwish or Kamelot with true operatic or musical theater style vocals. I found that Belle’s voice grew on me once I listened to more of the album and understood what the band was about. This band borrows a lot from the more experimental side of goth rock – this can be clearly heard on the single Broken Things. Some musical choices, like the vocals and instrumentals at the beginning of that song, remind me of listening to Johnny Hollow, Darling Violetta and Emile Autumn when I was in highschool. This is something that gothic metal bands don’t seem to do much of these days, focusing more on production choices that The Cure or Depeche Mode were known for and just making things bigger and a bit more aggressive. This is something that real fans of goth will appreciate- not just fans of the surface level standards of the genre.
The band utilizes a good blend of symphonic elements (aforementioned strings and pianos) with more electronic sounds which keep things interesting. But the band is at its best when it’s neck deep in it’s moody gothic atmospheres. The beginning of Lace is a good example- a piano dirge that plays during the beginning of the song that eventually grows into a mournful soundscape with morose-filled strings before the rest of the band comes in just checks all the right boxes for what I look for in good gothic music. The vocals are haunting in the chorus and when the heavy guitars come in it elevates the composition to more than the sum of its parts.
While this release might not be for everyone and possibly takes some time to grow on new listeners, those who are fans of all facets of goth- especially the more experimental side seen in bands from the late 90’s early 2000’s, should instantly gravitate towards Crime of Passion. While I wasn’t that interested in the concept album aspect of the release, I don’t think you need an understanding of the source material to appreciate what Belle Morte has created. This release is a great blend of symphonic metal and the multitude of facets that goth embodies. 
(4 / 5)
