“Trinity” is Eden’s Curse’s third album release since their formation in 2007. Eden’s Curse are a kind of supergroup with members from the UK and Germany, a former “guitarist of the year” in Thorsten Koehne and fingers in the pie of a good number of Metal bands. I missed them at Bloodstock UK 2009, and wondered if this was the same band when I saw the religious-sounding track titles. After a bit more delving, it was clear that this is the same Melodic Pop/Metal band, and it’s unlikely that religion is on the agenda, judging by the band’s exhortation to “Stay Cursed”.
There’s a fine line here. Some would say this is all teeny, cheesy and silly. On the other hand, it’s hugely catchy. It’s fresh and clean sounding and as I listened to “Saints of Tomorrow” I had a vision of George Michael (ok, perhaps not so clean then) going Pop Metal. There’s no doubt that this puts smiles on faces. Choruses like “we are, we are, we are the saints of tomorrow” are hardly University Challenge stuff, but musically it’s fine. The drums and guitars provide a melodic supporting role and the solos are exactly in time. One thing I very much appreciated was the unconstrained sound and the fact that the band was not trying to please everyone with Metaaal. The title track “Trinity” has the same fresh qualities. Basically dynamic Power Metal with an electronic edge, it’s hooky and the unobtrusive guitar line gives it a great backbone. The chorus is once again banal – this time it’s “Father, Son and Holy Ghost, who’s the One You Fear the Most” but the harmonies are good, and the singer has the good sense to reach the high notes without overstretching and the right notes to make it catchy. “Trinity” is a good Pop/Metal song. I was reminded of the Finnish band Amoral who similarly manage to make good Metal out of pop structures.
Another plus is that the band know how to vary the routine. “No Holy Man”, on which Dream Theater’s James LaBrie makes a guest appearance, marks a change of tempo. It is a steady and dark Rock anthem. The drum taps out a sinister beat. It’s measured but with a pumping rhythm and as usual, good harmonies. I didn’t like “Guardian Angel”, a slow, Chicago-style orchestral number and thought it went on a bit but then I never really liked rock ballads. “Children of the Tide” was a big track with the feel of Arena Rock but still had a personal touch, which is a feature of this album. Once again the harmonies are great and work well with the grandiose guitar rhythm. There’s a cover of Ronnie James Dio’s “”Rock n Roll Children” which for me could be taken or left. “Black Widow” is a hard-hitting piece of Power Metal featuring Helloween’s Andi Doris, contrasting with the lighter but clean-cut pop driven “Rivers of Destinity”.
Each track has its own character but the one which brightened up my day most of all was “”Dare to be Different”. This is yet another funky track with upbeat guitar work, huge hooks and another hopelessly catchy chorus. “Dare to be Different” had me bopping up and down on the 1436 from Kings Cross to Biggleswade. There’s an incredible simplicity about this. There’s nothing pretentious about this. It’s just good time rock. It’s very pop-orientated, but hey, why not. The structure is superb. There’s a quick pause for breath, and then off we go again into that hypnotic rhythm. Fantastic. Almost matching it for impact was “Jerusalem Sleeps”. An Eastern-style guitar intro leads into a thunderous beat. It’s another magically expansive track, helped along the way by the depth of production, and it’s heavier than some but still oozing with melody and superb vocals. The rhythm is hooky, hunting and dark. All in all, it’s very powerful.
I’m glad I opened my mind to stop and enjoy “Trinity”. Enjoy it I did. It took me completely by surprise. This is good time music, but there’s lots of technical and vocal skill here. There’s plenty of it too, with about an hour’s worth of material here. More importantly though, this is proof that creative minds can expand the narrow confines of Pop/Arena/Melodic Rock/Metal or whatever you want to call it. “Trinity” is an absolute pleasure to listen to.
http://www.edenscurse.com
http://www.myspace.com/edenscurse
http://www.afm-records.de
