Label: Escape Music
Review by Tony Cannella
The Finnish symphonic metal band Amberian Dawn parted ways with their popular longtime singer Heidi Parvainen late last year. Now that her replacement has been found the band continues on, with an odd way to break in the new singer. First of all, her name is Capri and instead of working on new material Amberian Dawn has chosen to introduce her to their fan base via a re-recording of some favorites with Capri on vocals.
The kind of soaring power metal that Amberian Dawn plays deserves a vocalist whose voice soars with the music and with Capri they have found just that. “Re-Evolution” contains 11-song that encompass all of their albums and it would be impossible to say that anyone does them better than Heidi (she was the original, after all), Capri acquits herself quite well and she quickly put my fears to rest. You can hear her take on songs like, “Valkyries”, “Incubus”, “Lily of the Moon”, “Come Now Follow”, “River of Tuoni” and my favorite all time AD track “Charnel’s Ball”. Still, I don’t mean to be a nit-picker here, but it would have been kinda cool to include one or two new tracks. But whatever, this is still a pretty cool collection of tracks that will no doubt have fans debating who is better Heidi or Capri (don’t all vocal changes inspire such debates?). I say, each has something cool and unique to offer and in addition to Amberian Dawn we can also enjoy Heidi’s new project Dark Sarah.
I will admit to being skeptical when I first heard about this idea, but I am pleased to say that I couldn’t be more wrong. “Re-Evolution” is part compilation and part trial-by-fire for Capri and she comes through with flying colors. You can never take anything away from Heidi and what she meant to the band, but it looks like the future of Amberian Dawn is in good hands. Let the debate begin.
Rating – 85/100
Tracklist
- Valkyries
- Incubus
- Kokko – Eagle of Fire
- Lily of the Moon
- Come Now Follow
- Crimson Flower
- Circus Black
- Lost Soul
- Cold Kiss
- River of Tuoni
- Charnel’s Ball
Line Up
- Capri – Vocals
- Tuomas Seppälä – Guitar & Keyboards
- Emil Pohjalainen – Guitar
- Kimmo Korhonen – Guitar
- Joonas Pykälä-aho – Drums