Fronted by lead singer, Sally Holliday, this Birmingham five-piece, Hanging Doll, provides a clue to its Gothic metal origins in its name. Hardly a newcomer to the scene, having been established since 2002, it was the loss of its former lead singer three years later that led professional photographer and classic vocally trained Sally to step up to the microphone. Her soaring and haunting voice ties together this remarkably vibrant album of orchestral accompanied thrash rock that possesses a gloriously intense grandiosity and yet the quality of a sonorous musical masterpiece.

While Reason and Madness is the band’s debut album, it possesses a Jeff Wayne professional finality and completeness to its style and majestic presentation. The rest of the line-up includes Daniel Leddy, a classically trained guitarist, with a degree in classical music, Alex Cooper on drums, Kev Wilson on bass and Aryan Amoli on keyboards. There is not one of the ten tracks on this generous album that sounds anything less than magnificent and, while you might attempt to draw comparisons with Amy Lee or Christina Scabbia, I tend to favour a more temporal link back to Sonja Kristina of Curved Air fame, whose roots lay in the folk music scene, although that band’s success came from its rocky overtones.

The band has played Bloodstock (Derby) and supported Saxon at the Patriot Games Outdoor Festival (Wales), while having also entertained the Moto GP crowds at Donington Park (Derbyshire) in 2007. I feel confident that one listen to this album will have you hooked, with its perfect balance of rock, orchestra and vocal vibrancy. It might be accused (unfairly, I should add) of a touch too much over-production but that should not stop the meteoric rise of a young band destined for much greater recognition. Just remember that you read it here, first! A great debut.