Leaves' Eyes Album: “Vinland Saga [Digipak]”

"Vinland Saga", as its title suggests, is a pretty ambitious attempt to reflect the legendary voyages of Viking discovery. Its great to see a band with the capabilities of Leaves Eyes take on such a concept album; in a lot of ways this is a logical step to take after "Lovelorn". The result is a largely successful, sometimes brilliant, piece of music. Anyone who has heard Leaves Eyes before won't find any real surprises here; "Vinland Saga" is pretty much in the same vein as "Lovelorn". Its full of heavenly vocals, memorable beauty, lots of space and atmosphere, and of course the power of metal.

Though "Vinland Saga" isn't really evolutionary; there are some differences compared to "Lovelorn". If you can believe it, the vocal performance is even better on "Vinland Saga" than that on "Lovelorn". There may not be as many catchy hooks, but Liv Kristine sounds stronger and more confident She is better in technical execution and really provides the drive for the entire CD; basically she's the backbone of the whole thing rather just the band's (albeit excellent) singer. Based on "Lovelorn", and now "Vinland Saga", I would have to say that, outside of the incomparable Tarja Turunen, Liv Kristine may have elevated herself to the top of the pack as the best female metal vocalist out there.

Lyrics continue to be excellent; the inclusion of some Norwegian (or could it actually be Old Norse?) is a great authentic touch. Speaking of vocals, there is good news on the death growl front. They aren't gone completely, but they are pretty tolerable this time around. They don't really ruin any songs, as was the case on "Lovelorn" ("Ocean's Way"). In fact, I'd have to say that they actually sound pretty good on "New Found Land" - now that's not something I say very often. Instrumentation is largely unchanged, maybe a few more guitar solos (although still a minor component of the overall sound) and some nice sound choices to enhance the mood - the timpani and battle horn sendoff on "Farewell Proud Men" is a great example - still, its largely the same mix of beauty, atmosphere, and raw power heard on "Lovelorn". The artwork and photography really add to the overall package as well; they mesh perfectly with the music.

For the most part, I don't feel that the songs jump out and grab you in the same way the best songs on "Lovelorn" do, but I do think there is more overall consistency. This gives the CD excellent flow; its a great choice for extended listening, I've listened to the entire thing straight through a couple of times, back to back, and found myself growing more attached to it each time. I don't think "Vinland Saga" has as much crossover potential as "Lovelorn" - it seems most suited to the enthusiast and the dedicated fan. Besides, let's face it, lyrics about Vikings aren't as commercially appealing as love, dreams, oceans - the kind of themes covered in "Lovelorn".

There is one major snafu though, with "Vinland Saga", relating to audio production. Some may not find it all that important, but the more you care about audio quality and the better the caliber of system you hear this CD on, the more likely it is that this will bother you. "Vinland Saga" was over normalized and over compressed during mastering. The effect is that anytime the band kicks in with full power, as in a chorus, the entire mix sounds smaller and low frequencies lose power. This is the exact opposite of what's intended compositionally; its pretty discombobulating when the full on chorus segues into a verse that's louder and more powerful on the bottom. Same thing in reverse, when the song's verse segues into the chorus, instead of the increase in dynamics (and emotional intensity) you expect you get a drop in the power of the drums and bass and a smaller scrunched stereo image. "Lovelorn" did not have this problem; listen to something like "Norwegian Lovesong" or "The Dream" and compare that to a similar song on "Vinland Saga" to hear the difference. "Lovelorn" was just about reference quality audio; its a shame that "Vinland Saga" didn't achieve the same result, the music really deserves it.

Still, `Vinland Saga", is an excellent piece overall. Its greatest achievement is that it really captures the spirit of the subject material, and ultimately that's what great art is about. "We sail the sea...yeah...We fight the storm...yeah....One hundred men caught by endless passion..." I'd swear I can taste the salt spray and feel the waves pounding the longboat every time I hear that. If you enjoyed "Lovelorn" or like pretty much any of the new "chick metal" bands out there, "Vinland Saga" should be high on your wish list.

I love everything about this album. This is the second album from Leaves' Eyes, and they have a richly developed sound and style.

This is a concept album. The story is based on history, but embelished to include the love story of a crew member on Leif Ericson's Viking ship and his wife, who waits for him.

You can download a video for the song "Elegy" from the Leaves' Eyes website leaveseyes.de which will give you a feel for this album. My personal favorites from this album, however, are "Farewell Proud Men," which begins with the sound of a Viking battle horn, and "Twilight Sun," which shows off Liv Kristine's amazing vocal abilities.

In addition to being awesome musicians, the members of Leaves' Eyes are also very loyal to their fans. They tour extensively world-wide, and take time to visit personally with fans.

This review is for others out there who are like me, who aren't already really knowledgeable about this kind of music, and are unsure as to whether this album by Leaves' Eyes is worth trying out.

First, let me answer: yes, it is worth trying out. The music is very atmospheric, and makes for a pretty immersive experience. And that's the best way to listen to it: fairly loud and with few distractions so you can immerse yourself in it.

Now, I'm not a euro-progressive-goth-metal fanboy. In fact, let me start by saying that the extent of my musical knowledge of groups remotely similar to Leaves' Eyes is wrapped up in Lacuna Coil, a fantastic band I've been a fan of for some years. Heck, I even like mainstreamers such as Evanescence. But through some decent listening and research I'd say that of the genre of bands including the likes of Nightwish, After Forever, Within Temptation, and others, it's my opinion that Leaves is far superior.

First is the sound of the music itself, aside from the vocals. A lot of these bands have pretty darn good music, and although I wouldn't say Leaves is *far* better, I'd say they definitely win. There's plenty of different sounds, varying from heavy to melodic, on the various tracks.

The vocals are probably more important to me (not necessarily the lyrics - though both the lyrics and music together do a pretty good job of helping one picture the early voyaging of the Northmen). I seriously dislike death metal "growling", usually done by males. This album only has male vocals on 3 tracks: Solemn Sea (#4), Thorns (#6), and New Found Land (#9). Of these, on track 9 Alexander Krull is almost singing, and even on track 4 he is sort of singing/growling rather than pure growling. Track 6 has quite a bit of the death growling, however. It's there for a reason (this is a conflict driven track which seems to be about a woman worrying/mourning for a husband figure who's in a perilous fight), but in my opinion the music alone gives enough sense of conflict that the growling is unnecessary.

I gave Vinland Saga only four stars, rather than five, for 3 reasons: 1) the presence of growling, limited though it is; 2) the way in which they try too hard on a few tracks to make Liv Kristine's vocals too overtly operatic (Solemn Sea among others); and 3) the fact that most of the songs just end abruptly...I really wish they had given some thought to giving the end of the tracks the same feel that the rest of the track suggests. One or two abrupt endings are ok, but not 10.

In all, it's a solid album, and if you enjoy music like Type O Negative, Lacuna Coil, Evanescence or even Loreena McKennitt, I think you'll really like this as well.

I encountered Vineland Saga quite by chance and was amazed at their ability to mix Liv Kristine Espenæs amazing vocal talent with a totally unheard of brand of gothic rock. I absolutly adored this CD and I think that to anyone who has appreciation for melodic rock or a beautiful singing voice to amazing rock music would adore this CD too. The CD seems to tell a story (although lyrics are hard to come by online) and that just adds an extra element of interest to it.

This is a wonderful album. The title track is a great intro to the rest of this epically stunning album. Liv Kristine has one of the most beautiful voices in metal music. It's serene, melodic, and flows with the music perfectly. It's as good as Tarja Turunen (formerly of Nightwish), and that's a hell of a compliment! While Tarja's voice is powerful, somewhat opera-like (less so on later albums), and beautiful in its own right, Liv's voice is almost angelic-like. Be forewarned, however, that there are some backup growls to accompany Liv's singing, but it's seldom, and it really only adds to the power of the songs (although they would be no less w/out them). This is good viking music. The band gels so well (that could be b/c Liv is married to someone in a metal band called Atrocity). "Farewell Proud Men" and "Solemn Sea" are probably the heaviest songs on the album, "Elegy" is soaringly beautiful with a catchy guitar solo, and the rest of the album is mostly more subdued but every song is essential to uniting this album into the masterpiece that it is. For strict serenity and beauty and none of the metal, check out "Amhran (Song Of The Winds)", which is mostly comprised of the angelic vocals with some nice strings, with the occasional cymbal and bass drum to keep the viking theme and sound alive. The addition of strings to a few of the songs as well as a number of wind instruments help give the album that wonderful atmospheric/new age/serene touch. Other highlights are "New Found Land" and "Mourning Tree". If you're into Lacuna Coil, Nightwish, Midnattsol, or Evanescence ( I suppose; I don't listen to them, so I can't be sure), or even Delerium, check this out. Regardless of sex, or age, or your taste in music, everyone should at least appreciate this album (or respect it), if not grow to love it. This is in the top 5 of the most beatiful albums I own (and I have about 400 albums, ranging from rock to metal, but mostly all rock and metal). This music moves you, and takes you to another place where your mind is set free. It's eclectic, uplifting, and wonderful.

P.S. Good music to play Warcraft by!