In the Netherlands we have Epica, in Norway there is Sirenia,
also a band with female vocals and some harsh grunting ones. Ailyn has a very
nice and adorable voice which forms a fine contrast with the harsh aggressive
ones of Morten Veland every now and then. If you compare the band with Epica,
you can conclude that Epica is a tad heavier with more death metal sounding
pieces.
Nevertheless this album sounds very heavy and has a top notch production. It is
an almost 70 minutes long adventurous journey. The melodic parts go hand in hand
with the faster pieces and this in combination with well arranged orchestral
bombastic elements is a feast for your ears. Compared with the predecessor there
aren't a lot of changes, but why change it when it all sounds so good. "Elixer"
is a track with mighty choirs, a very contagious melody line and clean male and
female singing parts combined with some grunts. "Sons Of the North" is again a
lot heavier and reminds me of Epica. The same can be said about the next two
tracks, bombastic, very orchestral and angelic vocals combined with harsh ones.
Put on top of that the nice arrangements and the beautiful melodies and a lot of
other bands in this genre can eat their heart out.
If
I have to choose one song that impressed me most, it would be besides "Elixer"
the song "The Silver Eye". If you want to know why, you should hear it for
yourself and I think you will know. The album ends with a ballad called "Tragedienne",
in which the lovely angelic fragile voice of Ailyn rules and underlines that she
is one of the best in the genre.
On
this seventh album the band found a perfect balance between heavy and softer
pieces. A job well done!
