Label : Ex Cathedra Records
Review by Tony Cannella
What do you get when you mix Celtic songstresses Enya and Loreena McKennit with heavier more bombastic artists like Nightwish and Within Temptation? Well, it’s hard to say for sure, but it would probably sound a little something like the Canadian singer Leah and her debut album “Of Earth & Angels”.
“Of Earth & Angels” is solid from the opener “Prisoner”. This is a nice up-tempo song that sets the pace perfectly. “Remember” is next and is just a beautifully haunting song that changes tempos. Leah has got a wonderfully emotional singing style and musically the songs are well paced and pretty diverse. The Celtic flavor of “Old World” is next and is accompanied by a pretty straight-forward rumbling guitar riff. “I Fade” slows down the tempo a bit, but as the song proceeds the pace progressively gets faster and heavier. This song has a definite Middle Eastern vibe to it. “Ex Cathedra” has got a big orchestral, theatrical style. A couple of ballads follow “Ocean” and “A Thousand Years” are both excellent. Other highlights include: “Tragedy & Magic”, “Mainland” (this song is just excellent and probably my favorite) and “Illusion”. On “Of Earth & Angels”, Leah and her band takes what would normally be two very different genres and styles and manages to make a cohesive and coherent musical statement. What more can I say? Leah is a revelation and “Of Earth & Angels” is a strong debut.
Rating – 90/100
Tracklist
- Prisoner
- Remember
- Old World
- I Fade
- Ex Cathedra
- Ocean
- A Thousand Years
- Tragedy & Magic
- Mainland
- Say Yes
- Confess My Love
- Illusion
Line Up
- Leah – Vocals, Piano
- David Hughes – Guitars
- Briton Liakakos – Bass
- Sean Lang – Drums
Links