Band:
Sabine Edelsbacher - vocals
Lanvall - guitar, keyboards
Max Pointer - drums
Dominik Sebastian - guitar
Discography:
Sunrise in Eden (2000)
Arcana (2001)
Aphelion (2003)
Shine (2004)
The Grand Design (2006)
MyEarthDream (2008)
Solitaire (2010)
Guests:
Czech Film Orchestra
Info
Produced by Lanvall
Released 30/6-2010
Reviewed 9/2-2011
Links:
edenbridge.org
myspace
napalm
This new album Solitaire is similar in style to what the band has done before with their symphonic, atmospheric and very melodic metal fronted by female singer Sabine who has a very beautiful voice, albeit with some accent which can be a tad negative perhaps. It is majestic but not heavy in the metallic sense and it is immaculately produced which makes for a more or less perfect sound.
Immediately when I start playing this album I recognise the Edenbridge sound, the atmospheres, the vocals and the symphonic feel to it. They have help from the Czech film orchestra for the symphonic parts on this album. The thing that has always have struck me with this band is how well they integrate all the sounds into a very well working unity and this album is no exception to this, the sound is truly exceptional.
The word for Edenbridge when a one word description is due is beauty, they have these beautiful songs, and that is not only the ballads but the heavier and faster songs as well, all songs have an air of beauty to them, if it is the voice of Sabine or the instrumental sounds, or maybe the harmony between them, I leave unsaid but one thing is for sure, this is music that lends itself really well to just listen to as it has so much depth and atmosphere.
There are either eleven or thirteen tracks depending on if you found a record with the bonus track, the review copy I got my hands on had eleven tracks but I don’t think it matters as the bonus tracks are probably just as good as the ordinary tracks. I have no idea how many minutes this album plays for, it was not said anywhere where I found the information about the band but I am sure it is not above an hour for the one I have reviewed. The cover artwork looks rather interesting and the album itself has an air of “great album” to it.
I think that you can lead much back towards the earlier works by the band from the songs on this album, there are songs that reminds very much of the sound and structure of songs from Shine and also Aphellion, and in the end I find myself with a feel that there is not much new and amazing being offered by Edenbridge on this album, sure it is well made, solid and most of the songs are fantastic and the sound is amazing but it does not feel as new and fresh as Aphellion or Shine did when they came. I can surely say that this album is much better than Grand Design which did not feel like anything really, I have hardly played that album as it was so much of a disappointment, this album is not a disappointment but at the same time it is not quite as much as I had hoped for which says quite a bit how good this band really is.
To quote Formula One people: for sure this is an amazing album, there are some amazing songs like Bon Voyage Vagabond which is a typical and fantastic Edenbridge song and then there is some other really great songs on this album. The sound is fantastic, but still it is not as good as Shine or Aphellion, I still hold those as the two top albums of the band. Solitaire is great and it is back to the one word album title which seem to be working with better albums of Edenbridge. With Solitaire Edenbridge show how good they are at making really good music but unfortunately they do not overwhelm me as I know they can so for that reason I would say that Solitaire is fantastic but still a bit of a disappointment.
HHHHHHH
