Liv Kristine is back, after her solo album last year (Vervain), presenting the 6th studio album of Leaves’ Eyes! I can tell you that she got the help of Atrocity, Simone Simons, Linda-FayHalla and so much more! It’s really worth your money!
The orchestral sound was created by London Voices (Star Wars and The Lord Of The Rings) and the White Russian Symphony Orchestra. Liesbeth de Weer plays hammered dulcimer whilst Sophie Zaaijer and Fieke van den Hurk (they both play in Cesair) play violin and hurdy gurdy.
Sweven is the first pearl, very fragile with an Irish touch, whilst King of Kings launches the story of Harald Hårfagre (the first Norwegian king who ruled over the whole country and united his kingdom, ca. 872-932, thus The King of Kings). The sound is very symphonic and bombastic (but really worth it). Liv’s voice is the nightingale leading the other voices, with now and then a grunt, a great scene arises, and this is the start of an epic and heroic story!
Halvdan The Black sounds really perfectly with the monstrous grunting mixed with angelic voices, feels almost like as if gods are fighting against the evil! It’s a song about the father of the King of Kings. The symphonic sound is just perfect and drags you deeper and deeper into the story and the world of the King of Kings. The Waking Eye is a bit softer, with Liv’s beautiful voice leading an entire empire of voices and positive feelings (check out the nice video), it’s the awakening a saga, the hero will stand up soon ... Feast of the Year is a medieval/ instrumental track that could grow out to be a complete and very into starting a party! More positive feelings and getting on with the party comes with the ray of light called Vengeance Venom (folk metal minded). This one must be a highlight on stage! Gets a higher drive, sounds very much worked out into detail and has a cinematic feel. I cherish the backing choir! The epic feeling reigns, it’s yet another pearl with lots of melodic twists! Sacred Vow is a more metal minded track, with the typical Liv Kristine sound. It’s a very sweet and symphonic empowered track with a high drive.
Fans of Epica will absolutely be pleased with the perfectly crafted diamond called Edge Of Steel as Simone Simons gets his spot and sings/grunts all along. It’s very catchy and I almost weep all along and want to get up and join them! Feel the energy and get sucked into it! This is simply magical! Don’t miss the bagpipes either! Haraldskvæði starts like angels lending us their energy and are watching over the shoulders of the humans. Strangely enough it’s a song about Harald’s berserkers, the lyrics do not match the angelic music, but this one is good to have here and a nice break. Blazing Waters (featuring Lindy-Fay Hella of Wardruna) is a very bombastic and epic track with a catchy chorus. Once again I got dragged into it, the feelings are so strong. The song is very complex and has a lot of musical twists in it, what makes it a very strong track and one of my favorite ones!
Nice thing to know is that Liv was actually born in Hafrsfjord (location of the battle), bringing it very close to her personal roots and thus empowering this album even more! You can feel how much she breath’s out the real history of her kingdom! As the battle has ended with a victory we close it with a huge victory cry called Swords In Rock: it’s very into throwing a folk/medieval/rock party with lots of dancing, jumping up and down! It’s the perfect closure for the album that will be the King of her rich collection of albums and a must have for the fans!
Cool news for the Benelux based fans: Leaves’s Eyes is announced as headliner for the Metal Female Voices Fest in Wieze edition October 2016! More news will follow …
Tracklist:
1. Sweven
2. King Of Kings
3. Halvdan The Black
4. The Waking Eye
5. Feast Of The Year
6. Vengeance Venom
7. Sacred Vow
8. Edge Of Steel (feat. Simone Simons of Epica)
9. Haraldskvæði
10. Blazing Waters (feat. Lindy-Fay Hella of Wardruna)
11. Swords In Rock
12. Spellbound (bonus track)
13. Trail Of Blood (bonus track)
Bonus cd:
1. The Waking Eye (acoustic version)
2. Swords In Rock (acoustic version)
3. Vengeance Venom (acoustic version)
4. Sweven (instrumental)
5. King Of Kings (instrumental)
6. Halvdan The Black (instrumental)
7. The Waking Eye (instrumental)
8. Feast Of The Year (instrumental)
9. Vengeance Venom (instrumental)
10. Sacred Vow (instrumental)
11. Edge Of Steel (instrumental)
12. Haraldskvæði (instrumental)
13. Blazing Waters (instrumental)
14. Swords In Rock (instrumental)
