For those who are unfamiliar with the name Amanda Somerville, she has written and recorded with metal bands such as After Forever, Edguy, Kamelot, Epica, and Avantasia. She has also released two solo albums. While her solo music is more of a pop-infused rock, Somerville has finally decided to record her debut metal project, Trillium. The album, titled Alloy, was produced by famed metal producer team Sascha Paeth and Michael ‘Miro” Rodenberg, and features guitar work by Sander Gommans (After Forever, HDK).  In the album biography, Somerville states, “The name of the album, "Alloy," is symbolic and metaphorical. An alloy is a substance composed of two or more metals, or of a metal or metals combined with a non-metal, intimately mixed. It also means standard; quality; fineness and is an admixture, as of good with evil. I'm a Pisces, so I'm all about duality and combining known elements - sometimes opposing each other - to create something different. Though I've been working myself further and further into the metal scene, I still always feel the need to add an extra element to make it shine, bling, stand out”. After listening to the album several times, I would say that describes the album perfectly!

    The first track “Machine Gun” is heavy groove-laden metal and Somerville’s vocals are aggressive yet melodic. It’s no coincidence that musically and vocally Trillium reminds me a lot of After Forever, especially since Gommans was the long-time guitarist for After Forever. The second track “Coward” has a “Sabbathy” type riff and Somerville shows off her vocal prowess and when she sneers the lyric “You Coward” in the chorus, you better not mess with this woman! 

    “Purge” is a straight-ahead rocker and the symphonic metal majesty of “Utter Descension” shows why Somerville is such a highly regarded vocalist in the metal community. “Bow to the Ego” is a headbanging tune that features some killer guitar work from Gommans. On the rocking track “Scream It”, Somerville enlists her friend and fellow “Avantasian” Jorn Lande in a powerful duet that begins with Lande’s trademark “Dio-esque” screaming. This is probably my favorite track on the album as these two vocalists work perfectly together. On the song “Path of Least Resistance” Somerville shows off her considerable range and power and the lyrics to great chorus “You sweet, sweet fool, you know you could have it all, but your determined to walk down the path of least resistance, well the choice is yours” are sung with great conviction and self assurance. On the song “Into The Dissonance”, the verses have a quirky Tori Amos type of quality to them, which is a compliment to the diverse sound of the album. The appropriately titled “Slow Down” is a quietly beautiful ballad with a passionate performance by Somerville and an amazing orchestration arrangement by Rodenberg. The final track “Love is an Illusion” is a rocker with attitude and a perfect ending to the album. “Alloy” is a highly enjoyable album that any fan of female fronted metal will love!