A couple of days before their first Dutch show ever the Flyleaf self titled album entered the Metalrage HQ. Strangely enough the album already was in the collection since a visit to NYC last year. This 5 piece band from Belton, Texas, released their self titled album back in 2006 in the States and it has finally found its way to the European main land.

The sound produced by this band can be described as ‘reli rock’ but for this review I just forget the ‘reli’ part because I simply hate that term. The band simply plays great rock songs fronted by a female with a good throat. The first song of the album starts with a big scream of this little girl which was the first reason this band caught my attention.

Personal favorite is the song ‘Cassie’ which contains awesome drumming and a great vocal line. This girl simply knows to rock, period! Besides the strong, rocking songs the band also wrote some strong, emotional, ballads for the bigger main stream audience to collect some money. In most cases these songs break the album, Flyleaf manage to maintain their sound, feel and flow throughout the entire album.

On the European edition of the Flyleaf album two extra acoustic songs of the album are included. The songs ‘Fully Alive’ and ‘All Around Me’ are a lovely addition to the album and a must for the fans of this band.

For me Flyleaf was one of the sensations of the end of 2006 and 2007. Even now this albums gets a regular spin and it still touches me. If you like female fronted rock bands, you have to check this out because it simply rocks!