Aggressively lovely.
This is first-chair Symphonic Metal bathed in stagelights. “Dancing in Hell” is such a rich, lush, lustrous listening experience, it becomes almost visual. The lyrics and sounds evoke the theater: heavy velvet curtains sliding apart when you push PLAY; dancers striking poses and executing complexly choreographed, balletic routines across the stage, sometimes with wires, sometimes between pyro effects. (OK, maybe it’s just me) The album feels as much like listening to a dramatic Broadway play as it does to a Symphonic Metal album.
But artifice and sub-genre labels only give you an inkling of what Eleine is really about. I’m keen for this album because the music is beautifully-constructed - - and just plain exciting. The transitions within the songs are canny and clever, and the individual pieces are lovely to hold between your ears.

A lot of bands tack on heavy synths, orchestral instruments, and choirs as a high-budget after-thought, but Eleine truly seem to write their songs with these elements in mind from the get-go. On “Dancing in Hell,” the orchestrals are given maximum power, and are leveraged to their fullest capacity.
Lots of praises lavished, but we haven’t even gotten to the best part yet. . . Lead vocalist, Madeleine Liljestam. She elevates everything around her. Her voice weaves across the terrain with the elegance, grace, and altitude of a hunting falcon. Eleine do a bit of the beauty and the beast thing vocally, with guitarist Rikard Ekberg adding occasional counter-growls. He sometimes reminds me of a Muppet. In spite of the grim song titles and sepulchral lyrics, “Dancing in Hell” is a joyous, uplifting listen. I’ll be back for many repeat listens. So will you.

NOTE: Eleine’s 2019 “All Shall Burn” EP was a bit of a prequel to “Dancing in Hell,” featuring some alternate and some official versions of songs from their first record, as well as from this one. The song, “All Shall Burn,” is one of the true highlights on “Dancing in Hell,” but I also encourage you to seek out the *Symphonic Version* from its 2019 EP. Truly breathtaking.