The powerful, emotional voice of İdil Çağatay was introduced to me through Istanbul-based all-female heavy metal band Kırmızı, of which she was the frontwoman and main songwriter. Unfortunately, Kırmızı slowly faded away after the release of their excellent album ‘İsyan’, but Çağatay fortunately is still active as a musician. Moreover, she is still working with Kırmızı’s incredible drummer Aslı Polat. Çağatay’s debut solo album ‘Ateşler İçinde’ is a lot more varied than Kırmızı’s modern power metal sound, but sacrifices nothing of her hard rocking force and subtle touches from the world of classical music and Turkish folk. Simply an excellent debut.

While some of the songs on ‘Ateşler İçinde’ would not have sounded out of place on ‘İsyan’, the album as a whole feels less inhibited by the idea that it should be a metal album in both songwriting and arrangements. The overall sound is closer to hardrock than heavy metal, but it is admirable how much Çağatay explores what is possible within the boundaries of that sound in only 33 and a half minutes. Because of this, Çağatay is allowed – possibly even encouraged – to show all of her immense talents as a singer, songwriter, arranger, pianist and harpist.

Despite the great deal of variation in the songwriting department, ‘Ateşler İçinde’ never feels disjointed. It may help that she has a core band with which she recorded the entire album, though I suspect that Çağatay’s vision is the reason why the album makes so much sense as a whole. The gorgeous bombastic power ballad ‘Gölgeler’ sounds every bit as convincing as the looser rock ‘n’ roller ‘Derbeder’ or the accessible rocker that is the opening title track. While all of the songs are meticulously arranged, none of them loses its life as a result. In fact, everything appears to be written with a live band in mind.

My personal favorite on ‘Ateşler İçinde’ is the driven rocker ‘İpin Ucu’, which squeezes all possible dynamics out of a couple of deceptively simple riffs in order to reach what is without a doubt the most powerful chorus on the album. ‘Kıyamet Senfonisi’ is a remarkably ambitious, multi-faceted track that is best described as a neoclassical progrocker, though that doesn’t completely do its excellent songwriting justice. ‘Firar’ comes across as a simple rocker until Çağatay’s overwhelmingly dramatic vocal performance in the chorus lifts a song to a higher level. That same incredible voice is what pushes dynamic semi-epics like ‘Affet’ and closer ‘Uykusuz’ from great to amazing.

İdil Çağatay is a force of nature. The ever so slightly husky edge to her voice gives every powerful note she sings an emotional charge that many singers should envy. But even more importantly, she is able to write excellent songs that defy genre boundaries, though somehow still sound conventional enough to make a lasting impression. Even if you don’t speak Turkish. Çağatay’s emotional delivery will tell you what the songs are about regardless. While ‘İsyan’ was a fantastic metal album, ‘Ateşler İçinde’ is a better representation of everything that Çağatay is capable of. Highly recommended.

Recommended tracks: ‘İpin Ucu’, ‘Gölgeler’, ‘Kıyamet Senfonisi’