OK I admit it I do like some female fronted metal which does not make me gay as my mates like to proclaim so readily, especially when I was allegedly swooning and swaying whilst watching Leaves’ Eyes at last years Summer Breeze festival. It was hot and I was on my way to becoming inebriated. That’s my excuse anyway.
As with most albums of this style it starts with some symphonic and choral arrangements with a backing guitar riff that builds up. Additionally this has a pipe section which didn’t quite work for me as Liv Kristine’s vocals saunter in over the mix. As the pace picks up Liv’s voice takes centre stage and is similar to the style she used on her debut solo album “Deus Et Machina” though a tad less operatic. As a first track “Spirit’s Masquerade” has a melancholic feel on the slower sections with flute like instrumentation and a folk or medieval style atmosphere.
Initially on “Étaín” the song is slow but picks up with a mild double bass being added to create a bounce like feel with a choir vocal style. “Velvet Heart” is far more typical of the band with an accessible pace and hugely commercial appeal and should probably be the single and video shoot rather than the cover of Mike Oldfield’s’ “To France” the band has chosen instead but that’s just my opinion. “Kråkevisa” has duel female vocals amongst a plethora of guest musicians I won’t go into except to say that the services of the Lingua Mortis Orchestra have been harnessed to good effect.
The said cover version “To France” is commercial fodder for the band with a singalong chorus and comparing to the original the structure is obviously intact but it has been beefed up into a full on rock song for the Leaves’ Eyes fans to hear something different and it is amazing how close Liv’s vocals are to Maggie Reilly’s on the original. The song is not as heavy as Blind Guardian’s version however, though the vocals are obviously a different gender. Strategically the logic for having this as the video release is obvious.
The title track delves fully into folk instrumentation but has sporadic heavier moments injected juxtaposed against the harmonising vocal style as the album turns its attention to the epic “Sigrlinn” which has Alex Krull’s deep vocals. The song builds epically and is much heavier than the previous material as the guitar work shows some guts within the mix. The use of double bass was a surprise but welcome as the song attempts to cover all bases within the gothic symphonic metal genre but with folk touches.
The use of varying languages adds to the mysterious feel this album possesses and whether you like ballads or not “Meredead” certainly has its milder moments such as “Mine Tåror er ei Grimme“ amongst the more metal tracks like “Empty Horizon”. In places my attention wandered due to the use of the folk shenanigans which I’ve yet to like on any metal album but the symphonic arrangements are sumptuous and very enjoyable. After a number of listens I still can’t decide on whether I like this album or “Njord” better but it is fair to say Leaves’ Eyes has used the popularity of that material to come up with a worthy follow up that is sure to garner them new fans in the popular gothic symphonic metal genre.
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