Label : Spinefarm Records
Review by Tony Cannella
Finland’s Amberian Dawn has already forged out a pretty promising career for themselves. On their first two albums the band set a pretty high standard to follow in the Symphonic Metal genre. Now, on their third album, “End of Eden”, Amberian Dawn continues to move onwards and upwards whilst still maintaining the qualities that have made them favorites of the Symphonic crowd. Throughout the 10-song, 45-minutes that are displayed on “End of Eden”, Amberian Dawn offers the listener a full plate of some breathtaking operatic vocals courtesy of Heidi Parvianen and some inspired musicianship. The opening number is the up-tempo “Talisman”, this song also features some great guitar work and a blazing solo that recalls some guitar heroes of the 80s. “Come Now Follow” is next and this is more of a mid-tempo track, with a catchy sing-along type of chorus. “Arctica” is next and has a prog metal vibe to it. On the 9th track “Virvatulen Laulu”, Amberian Dawn take things to the next level on the classical tune, which Heidi performs a duet on with a male opera singer. Amberian Dawn brings “End of Eden” is a close on a grand, majestic and beautiful scale with the 7-minute “War in Heaven”. This is another duet as Heidi performs with Peter James Goodman on this one. This also happens to be my favorite song that the band has recorded to date. Other highlights include: “Ghostly Echoes” (featuring a great prog-style keyboard solo), “Sampo” and “Field of Serpents”. In my opinion, “End of Eden” is the best album that Amberian Dawn has recorded so far. Fans that have come to love Amberian Dawn’s brand of operatic symphonic metal, will no doubt be well pleased with “End of Eden”.
Rating – 93/100
Tracklist
- Talisman
- Come Now Follow
- Arctica
- Ghostly Echoes
- Sampo
- Blackbird
- Field of Serpents
- City of Corruption
- Virvatulen Laulu
- War in Heaven
Line Up
- Heidi Parviainen – Vocals
- Tuomas Seppälä – Keyboards & Guitar
- Kasperi Heikkinen – Guitar
- Kimmo Korhonen – Guitar
- Jukka Koskinen – Bass
- Heikki Saari – Drums
Links