Search - Edenbridge :: Arkana

Ascending... or not

E. A Solinas | MD USA | 05/03/2005

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Fairy tale metal sounds like an oxymoron of the first class -- after all, metal is not known for its whimsy. But that's the basic description of Edenbridge's second album, "Arcana." While the vocals and music are pretty, the poor songwriting and overly ethereal fantasy theme bog "Arcana" down.



The album starts off with a symphonic buildup in "Ascending," with an organ solo that wouldn't be out of place in a Webber musical, before kicking off into the catchy "Starlight Reverie" and gothic "The Place." So far, things seem to be solid -- whimsical lyrics, but fairly restrained as Edenbridge goes.



With that as a base, Edenbridge embarks on a mix of the whimsical and the gritty, the metal and the balladic, such as the airy, fluttery ballad "Fly on a Rainbow Dream," the dramatic rocker "Velvet Eyes of Dawn," and the desperate-sounding "Into the Light."



One of the biggest problems with Edenbridge's sound is that while the music is majestic, the theme of the album seems to have been lifted from second-rate fantasy fiction. It clashes badly. Certainly it's a little jarring to hear about "the stardust angel" against rock-hard music. Had the theme been toned down a little, made less airy, it would fit. But it doesn't.



The music itself is very solid, a mix of fast-paced, slightly poppy metal, and a distinctly symphonic sound. "The Place" opens with an organ backdrop that sounds like something out of "Phantom of the Opera," before shifting into a faux-medieval dance number. Sabine Edelsbacher has a solid voice, very strong and pretty, although she sounds unsteady in the softer songs.



And the songwriting is where Edenbridge really stumbles -- even the forced whimsy could have tolerated, if it wasn't for strained lines like "Ancient myth arcana, Elysian seas of time/the stones of wisdom shine again, the moonlight hides the rhyme." Really, guys, I can only take so many references to stars, oceans, rainbows, stardust, Elysia, flying, and other things like that. It's cute at first, but soon it starts to grate.



While the vocals and fairy-metal are solid, the music of Edenbridge's "Arcana" is undermined by the over-the-top whimsy and horribly written lyrics. Promising, but in the end it's disappointing."