Album Review: The Emptiness by Alesana – Beginning of The Annabel Trilogy

The Emptiness is a concept album created by an incredible band called Alesana. It was released in 2010 and has been capturing the hearts of many ever since. It is the start of what has now become “The Annabel Trilogy.” This is something I think the band should be incredibly proud of. They have created something truly magical.

Some of the Most Unique Music I Have Ever Heard

People have been trying for a long time to give this band a genre. It’s hard. They don’t really fit into any one single genre, or even two or three. Their music is all over the place, in the absolute best of ways. People have tried to describe them as screamo, metalcore, post-hardcore, and even emocore. While all of these could begin to describe the sound they produce, none are fully sufficient. The band themselves call it “pop-metal” and while this sounds kind of ridiculous, I think it’s the most fitting description anyone has ever come up with.

The Emptiness is full of screaming, of heavy riffs and breakdowns, and yet it’s peppered with light, poppy overtones and soft, higher pitched clean vocals. It’s not a combination I think anyone really expects, but it’s absolutely incredible if you ask me. It’s really, truly unique; and 6 years after it’s release, I still can’t get enough of The Emptiness.

Brilliant, Beautifully Poetic Lyrics

If I ever get the chance to congratulate the writers of these songs personally – I will absolutely take it. I can’t even begin to imagine where they come up with some of what they write. Their lyrics are calculated. Deliberate. This album tells a story, just as much as a written novel or a full-length film.

The album opens with a paragraph of narration

I am here to tell you a story.
A story that will torture your thoughts by day and poison your dreams by night.
And though I will do my best, there are no words
that can be written nor brush strokes laid on canvas
that can describe the stark and utter horror of the night that Annabel died.
The emptiness will haunt you.

As you can see at the very start – this is a story of death, of grief, and of horror.

The second song introduces us to the main character: The Artist. The Artist is grieving the loss of Annabel. Most of the story is told from The Artist’s perspective, and you can already see the beginning of his descent into madness:

Maybe I am crazy and my mind is trying to deceive me.
As the ground vanishes I wonder will the sky be the next to fail me?
Paint abandons canvas.
And my brush can’t seem to start again from scratch.

As the story progresses, you see The Artist falling deeper and deeper into denial and becoming violent. He takes you to the scene of a tavern at night, where he goes on a murderous spree.

The knife slides down to the tip of my tongue.
I’m finding pleasure in watching you writhe.
I lean in just to lick the sweat off your face.
I taste the reverence dripping down my throat.

As we follow him further, we join him in wandering the streets and eventually hallucinating – seeing Annabel. Trying to kiss her. To stay with her.

He wanders aimlessly, stricken with fear and grief until he comes face to face with a character known as “The Thespian” who he learns is Annabel’s killer. They begin a fight to the death, and The Artist is stabbed in the side. He then finds that he is in a room with Annabel, who is wielding a dagger herself. It is at this point that the story switches from The Artist’s perspective to Annabel’s.

“How could I be so blind?, I guess I fell in love too quickly…” She says in the beginning.

Years spent watching in silence as your illness spilled onto page.
Those were the last days I spent with you.
Before you left, before he came.

In the end, Annabel explains that it was not her who has been killed, but The Artist himself. She says that while she loves him very much, he had become consumed by his sketches, which were growing increasingly violent. She had no choice but to end his life in order to protect herself from who he had become – no longer her lover, but The Artist.

The Creation of Annabel

While I believe this album was meant to be a stand-alone concept album, it has since grown into so much more. As it turns out, the story of Annabel is far from over even once you hear the last note of “The Emptiness.”

Annabel and the whole idea for The Emptiness was spawned by the poem “Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allan Poe – which was the last complete poem he ever wrote, published shortly after his death. The poem speaks of a woman named Annabel Lee who was torn from her lover and lost at sea.

“In her tomb by the sounding sea” is the last line of Annabel Lee, and effectively the last (published) line Poe ever wrote. This is also the title of one of the songs on The Emptiness.

While the character Alesana has created is NOT the same Annabel, they did base their Annabel and The Emptiness in general off of this poem. Sort of a tribute to Edgar Allan Poe as this was his last work.

While she is central to the story of The Emptiness, you don’t get much of an insight into the character herself, as the story mostly revolves around the life of The Artist.

And So Begins The Annabel Trilogy

Fret not, however, for there is more to be heard from Annabel. To be honest, I’m not sure what Alesana’s original intentions were for Annabel. Whether they intended for The Emptiness to stand alone or if expanding the story was their plan from the start – but I do have to say that I’m glad it ended up where it did.

Fans of the band have become absolutely obsessed with Annabel and for good reason. Hers is a fascinating story and The Emptiness is just the beginning.

Stay tuned – I’ll be posting reviews of “A Place Where The Sun is Silent” and “Confessions” which will complete the story of Annabel.

Conclusion

Musically, this album is brilliant. Such an incredibly unique sound, executed so very, very well. Simply listening to this band is a real treat. Conceptually, this album is incredible. It tells such a tangible story. It creates believable, real characters. It creates an atmosphere all it’s own. It’s a love story, it’s a horror story, it’s a tragedy; all in one.

Want To Listen?

It is available for purchase on Amazon: