Origin:	Netherlands
Genres:	Gothic Metal

Last update/review:	October 13, 2013

Asrai

Asrai represents another first for these pages -- there are a couple of bands that have featured twin guys, but this band is the first to feature twin girls, with the Mol sisters (vocalist Margriet and drummer Karin) the backbone of this Dutch band. Though their debut album was released in 1997, the band goes back many years before, indeed as far back as 1985 the sisters were playing in a band amusingly named Twins Not Twins. By 1988 a stable all-girl lineup stabilized and they switched to the more befitting name of Asrai ("small, fragile female beings who turn into a puddle of water when they are captured or exposed to light", so say the band themselves). A male guitarist eventually joined the band, and after eight years and several demos it was a one-guy, three-girl lineup that recorded As Voices Speak in 1997. More lineup changes ensued in the years that followed, eventually morphing into the present 3-girl, 2-guy quintet. Signing to Transmission Records (a label cornering the market of fine Dutch gothic bands, as they also feature After Forever and Epica), the 2004 album Touch In The Dark was released. Asrai is every bit as good as their aforementioned labelmates, with a slightly darker, more rock-oriented, less symphonic take on prime gothic metal, and Margriet's vocals are perfect for this style, clear and emotive. Highly recommended.