Some may know LEANDRA under her name Ophelia Dax - the slightly eccentric keyboarder of the industrial rock newcomer Jesus On Extasy who are hitting hard the polls of the scene mags at the moment. Once you have seen the girl behind the keys onstage you quickly realize that she must be an expert in her domain. No wonder the born Belarusian has gone through the classical piano tutor.
During live shows with JOE Ophelia Dax has rather limited chances to express herself. Now with her solo project LEANDRA all stylistic barriers are suspended and it isn’t surprising that her debut Metamorphine has little relation to the industrial rock of her band mates. Apparently a huge amount of creativity has accumulated for some time and now this output is unleashed. You can hardly categorize LEANDRA’s music but in any case her classic background permeates. Fixed by her strongly accentuated singing, which will divide the opinions for sure, and her piano playing the listener is looking forward to an entertainingly pathless journey through stylistic spaces somewhere between Emilie Autun, Björk, Gothic, Neoclassic and even Trip Hop - surely not a light-hearted way but instead quite rich in content and artistically appealing.
To point out several song of Metamorphine seems difficult. After the first run-throughs the rather accessible songs like the fluffily light Lie To Me or the luckily not too drippy duet The Art Of Dreaming (with Sven Friedrich of Zeraphine/Dreadful Shadows) stick quickly in the ear. The following Coloured reminds me strongly of older songs from Björk, whereas Son Of Venus seems to be a homage to Something I Can Never Have from Nine Inch Nails. Naked Yes sounds trip-hop-like and at Tyberri Folla even a fantasy language is applied. In between LEANDRA let her fingers whiz over the fingerboard.
Metamorphine is an increasingly cumbersome trip through LEANDRA’s universe, which can therefore be recommended warmly to listeners who like to try out new things out and who are fed up to the back teeth with the uniformity of the gothic scene. “Well done, Mrs. Dax!” is the conclusion but before buying you should listen to this record at your CD dealer to avoid a bad surprise.