EVANESCENCE

When it comes to women in rock and metal music in the early 2000s, Amy Lee and EVANESCENCE were as big as it got. The band's dark, gothic music struck a chord with listeners around the world, and she and the band also paved the way for other women to get on the radio and stand alongside the many male frontmen dominating the airwaves.

Lee was in the company of artists such as Lacey Sturm of FLYLEAF, Christina Scabbia of Lacuna Coil, Hayley Williams of PARAMORE and Lzzy Hale of HALESTORM, although they broke out a bit later. Together, they spawned an exciting time in rock history, with women topping the charts amid other musical trends, such as the nu-metal and alternative metal movements.

Fast-forward to today, and EVANESCENCE are still crafting new music. Nearly 25 years after their 2003 debut album dropped, "Fallen", Lee and EVANESCENCE are back with "Sanctuary", a collection of heavy, gothic songs that continue in their longstanding tradition.

The album's single, "Who Will You Follow", shows that EVANESCENCE still has power. The track has become the fastest moving rock radio single of their career, scoring the band its first ever No. 1 on the Billboard Hard Rock Song Chart. Zakk Cervini and Jordan Fish co-wrote and produced the track, both of whom have worked with the hottest names in rock right now, so it's not a surprise that this track has a strong modern edge.

In general, this is a fairly heavy album for EVANESCENCE. Tracks such as "Self-Destruct" and "Beautiful Lie" are forceful and direct, with Lee's vocals showing that she can belt and kick things up a notch to compete with the intense guitars. Elsewhere, "Rapture" is an electronic pop-type song, which seems to be the trend for so many modern rock and metal bands today. Later in the album, "Calm Down" also brings more electronics and a calmer song, suiting the title. There are also some light, piano-heavy numbers on here, in EVANESCENCE fashion, such as "How Do I Deal" and "Forever Without You".

Sure to be well received by fans, EVANESCENCE experiment on "Sanctuary", but overall, they present the kind of gothic hard rock for which their known.