Xandria Album: “Kill The Sun”

i accidentally stumbled upon this band on a foreign music free mp3 site many many a year ago when i was looking for HIM mp3s (this was way before they were popular here in the U.S. i thank foreign roots for my access!) but i listened, and man did i love it. very ethereal and gothic. the singer has a very soft voice but can get pretty bold, its incredible. after years of listening to the free mp3's, they got signed to a label and the free stuff was taken down. these are the same songs that were up when they were label-less, but from what i recall the originals were better, not that these aren't great. one of my favorites, and i hope to follow them for years to come. if you like within temptation and nightwish, hears a great band to try!

On the beginning, Xandria was more gothic than today.

They play heavier now (wich I prefer), but this record is an item that people who likes female vocals must have.

Comparing to the other ones - Ravenheart, India and Salome, you can tell the difference on how the band changed their music style.

I promoted and listened to Xandria back in the 90s before they released this album. I even created a site for them after communicating directly with the band members through e-mail when they were just starting. This "Kill the Sun" album is very different from their original pre-release works. In fact, "Kill the Sun", "Mermaids", "She's Nirvana", "Casablanca", and "So You Disappear" were written and performed more than a decade before this album became 'mainstream' for release. I loved their original work and still have their indie, pre-release CD for "Kill the Sun" that the band personally sent me. I cherish that CD because it was Xandria at its core, with its un-edited goth metal sound. It was crisp, dark, with solid metal, European-style, female vocals. Unfortunately, that has changed now that this album is published. This release version is embellished with additional musical accompaniment (ie: orchestral assistance) that was never supposed to be there in the original works. It gives these songs a mainstream sound that just doesn't work for Xandria. I'm so sad listeners may never get to enjoy the indie side of Xandria. [...] In short, I'd rate their indie work 4 stars and this release album 2 stars, so I averaged that out to 3 stars.