"Legend Land" by Leaves' Eyes from Legend Land MCD

Hey, this reminds me of Within Temptation's "Ice Queen" in a lower key!

Or so I think before the growl-scream bit starts. Ulgh. At least it's limited.

With the "dark" minor key sound from gothic metal and vocals of symphonic metal, Leaves' Eyes also adds folk metal to the combo. Liv Kristine reminds a listener of Sharon Den Adel with a more normal vocal range. Liv and her husband, Alexander Krull, started Leaves' Eyes in 2003. She sings; he ocassionally growls, like in "Legend Land."

The song "Legend Land" draws on Norse mythology. The song references "Aasgard", the home of the gods in Norse mythology. That reference to pagan gods alone will cause some Christians to flee. (Though most of those Christians will read The Odyssey, so I'm as-yet undecided as to whether that reference in this song should be avoided.)

"Legend Land" mostly describes the legend land, with some references to an unnamed other. If you really want to think dirty thoughts, "somewhere inside of me a piece of you left" could be read into a bit too much. In context, though, it's speaking symbolically like the rest of the song.

The song melds well, though I would've liked to be able to hear the vocals a tad better. Overall, it's a song that's a noteably nice listen if you don't mind the bit of growling.

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Lyrics: 3/5
Music: 3/5
Vocal(s): 4/5
Overall: 7/10

"Seven Seas" by Visions of Atlantis from Trinity

"I try to reach you through this fog of ancient fear, and I'll return to you one day, again, my dear…" opens operatic singer Melissa Ferlaak to a piano, and the slow rock begins.

Mario Plank sings a bit roughly, but it's an interesting contrast to Melissa. The Australian band Visions of Atlantis fits conventions of its musical genre(s) in the fantasy-themed songs. The power-metal influence doesn't appear much in this ballad-like song.

"Seven Seas" may be slower than the other Visions of Atlantis songs, but it's still skilled. The music expertly flows together; it consciously ebbs and flows, though aspects seem a tad predictable. That might just be me, though, after listening to the song enough times to review it.

Melissa Ferlaak sings extremely well, and Mario Plank does pretty well, but he could've done better. Also, the lyrics seem kinda like a not-so-great poem. They have their moments, but overall, I think they could've used work.

Essentially, the song's talking about leaving this world behind and passing onwards, but it's not necessarily in a Christian way. (But it can be interpreted in a Christian light, if you consider "Dark waters now await my branded soul".) The music does balance it out somewhat, though.

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Lyrics: 3/5
Music: 4/5
Vocal(s): 4/5
Overall: 7/10

"Tenth Man Down" by Nightwish from Over the Hills and Far Away

"Ulgh!" was my first response to the overall song, with the not-quite-growl, not-quite-singing involved in it. What I did notice was I'd think it pretty if not for that part.

Still, I found myself returning to it every so often, drawn to the militaresque aspect of it. Reading the lyrics further drew me. "Tenth Man Down" embodies a contradiction that I've always thought must plague a number of soldiers: "Obey to kill to save yourself". But what if "This ain't my fight"?

With its violence (and the narrator's longing to die to escape), parents might not want their younger children to listen to this song. ("Today I killed; he was just a boy. The eight before him, I knew them all.") Hell is used as an adjective, and the instant of killing is called "the devil's instant".

Non-children, though, might appreciate the conflict and reminder not to wait "back home" "with eyes turned away." Whether you approve of war or not, at least consider and remember what soldiers sacrifice. The narrator of this song evidently wishes someone would kill him, causing him to be the "Tenth Man Down" after the nine he himself killed.

Taarja Turenen performs on her better end of opera-ish here, and whoever does the growlish singing does a good job expressing the fervent emotion of the soldier as he resents having to live with all those lives on his conscience for others' sakes. I don't like the choice much, but it does well-suit the song. Having the opera voice say "ain't", though, I'm not so sure about.

The music is likewise very on the better end of what I've heard from Nightwish. If you don't like heavy metal or… I'm not sure what… you won't like the song's sound, most likely. But maybe you'll at least appreciate the tasteful mixture.

If you don't like Nightwish, I suggest you at least check out the lyrics, as a non-political reminder of war's horrors in our age of PC avoidance of unpleasant topics unlinked to certain political agendas.

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Lyrics: 4/5
Music: 5/5
Vocal(s): 4/5
Overall: 9/10

"Dark Wings" by Within Temptation from Mother Earth

"Don't you die on me—you haven't made your peace!" This part of "Dark Wings" more than any other draws me back time and again to listen to this song. It's not Within Temptation's best, but even then it's higher than average.

Anyone who's read Frank Peretti's This Present Darkness or Piercing the Darkness might find themselves reminded of those books with this song, but it's even more Christian-ish than those books in some ways. The narrator is a powerful being that didn't know what she could do until she was chosen to fight. Even with the magic and power that her side has, they're still only able to defeat the "dark wings" through someone's sacrifice, reliquishing their soul.

As a Christian, I of course think of the parallel to Christ. He gave up His everything to be the sacrifice so we could win, in a sense; his death provided a bridge for the chasm of our sin. He is the Light that causes "the night [to turn] into the day".

Sharon Den Adel's voice soars over the music. That is, it was supposed to. It could've been mixed a tad better in trying to accomplish that, as the album version of "Ice Queen" demonstrates, but it's not so bad that it's obvious to a common listener.

But the music! A critical listen to the music proves disappointing, as they've done much better. It's closer to The Silent Force than The Heart of Everything in sound, but then the Mother Earth came out before those two.

If you like the band, you'll likely like the song, but it may not be your favorite.

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Lyrics: 5/5
Music: 4/5
Vocal(s): 4/5
Overall: 8/10

"Frozen" by Within Temptation from The Heart of Everything

"Tell me I'm frozen—what can I do?! Can't tell the reasons I did it for you!"

Like some other listeners, I wasn't sure what I thought of this song on the first listen. Other new songs like "Hand of Sorrow" and "The Truth Beneath the Rose" had caught my attention at the get-go.

But upon seeing the music video and reading the lyrics, I came to love "Frozen". (I know, I know; I'm a huge fan of all Within Temptation songs, it seems; I'll disillusion you of that, someday.) The rocky ballad "Frozen" is one of the band's singles for the UK. It's a bit softer than a lot of their "rock" or "metal" songs, but it is rock, perhaps a bit like BarlowGirl's "Never Alone", though the sound's quite different.

In the music video, a mother in the Victorian era bore abuse from her spouse, for she had no route of escape and her child was spared. But when the daughter learns of the father's violence from his common drunkenness, the father turns his abuse on the young girl. The mother, bereft of escape, murders her husband and is arrested. It is now that she's writing a letter to her daughter, and that's what the song is. "You won't forgive me, but I know you'll be alright." The music video is well-spliced, with skilled foreshadowing and scene choices that make it understandable even for the symbolically challenged.

Within Temptation carefully says that they are not by any stretch of the imagination condoning murder. Many who are in abusive situations tend to blame themselves for the abuse, but they need to get help, and Within Temptation strongly encourages them to call an international abuse hotline. In fact, all proceeds from the "Frozen" single will be donated to that help group. Sharon Den Adel and Robert Westerholt wrote the song after the birth of their daughter, Eva Luna, which has made them more aware of such child-related social problems.

Sharon Den Adel's voice uses the somewhat lower register than she used The Silent Force, as is common for The Heart of Everything. Her voice is strained, some complain in an unappealing way, but I disagree. This is obviously a topic that concerns Sharon, and the listener gets a sense of that.

"Frozen" isn't my absolute favorite song on the CD, but it's still a superb song well worth listening to. While I could imagine the song set to different music, the music used is still highly enjoyable (if you're not stuck in "This isn't The Silent Force!" mode).

("Frozen" and its music video are currently on Within Temptation's MySpace page. You have to scroll down for the video, or you can find it in their Videos section.)

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Lyrics: 5/5
Music: 4/5
Vocal(s): 5/5
Overall: 9/10

"End of All Hope" by Nightwish from Century Child

The title "End of All Hope" sounds familiar, so I click on the song in curiosity. "Is this—the end of—all hope?!" I jerk in my seat, pulse skyrocketing from the hectic beat and clipped chorus. You would think that I'd know to be careful with Nightwish by now. (I promise I won't always review so many Nightwish songs.)

The beat in itself is done as a form of music, with more added. It's unapologetically synthetic in its almost techno declaration of apocalypse. The chorus can be followed without much trouble, but much of the verses of the song is hard to follow from the intentional emphasis.

Nightwish as usual manages to produce lyrics able to give the Christian pause. The narrator has lost innocence and faith, a common premise with what I've heard of Nightwish, and not only from Century Child. The narrator of "End of All Hope" might be suggesting that having "This life unforgiven" "is the birth of all hope", a distinctly unappealing premise. "It will end with a birth" doesn't seem to fit in that, though, so I am again confused.

Beyond that, the lyrics of "End of All Hope" are clean, using metaphor instead of the crass language some artists resort to. Tarja Turunen's operatic voice particularly suits the apocalyptic tone of this compelling song from Century Child.

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Lyrics: 4/5
Music: 4/5
Vocalist(s): 5/5
Overall: 8/10

"She Is My Sin" by Nightwish from Wishmaster

Yikes!

That's the first thought that comes to mind upon hearing the speedy music to "She Is My Sin" by Nightwish, repeated upon hearing Tarja Turunen's classically trained voice more often suited for an opera.

The symphonic power metal combined with the vocalist takes some getting used to, but it's pretty if you can get past the initial shock of hearing them together. Assuming you don't mind metal music or classical vocals, of course—some people find either the music or Tarja Turunen's voice intolerable. It's a combo you'll either love or hate, and their native Finland has decided to love Wishmaster and their other albums.

People struggle to classify the song's genre, since it's so alternative that hearers have rarely, if ever, heard anything comparable. A first impulse is to classify "She Is My Sin" as power metal with gothic and symphonic elments, not quite like Italy's Lacuna Coil (and select songs by Evanescence). The voice of vocalist Tarja Jurunen lead some to term "operatic metal". Furthermore, other genres of music equally influence Nightwish in its music, though I can't strictly identify what besides recognizing there's more there.

The music is striking and memorable, as are the lyrics. On the lyrical note, though, "She Is My Sin" is somewhat disturbing, which seems to be standard from the Nightwish songs I've heard, not all from Wishmaster. "I am the Fallen," admits the narrator. "God, I must confess: I do envy the sinners"? It makes my stomach turn. After a month of thinking about the song, I'm still not sure about it. The "God" is clearly used as if speaking to Him and not as a blaspheme, however.

At any rate, I'm still listening to the song repeatedly despite that, enjoying the haunting imagery in "A sin for him, desire within, a burning veil for the bride too dear for him," after the admission that "In the meadow of sinful thoughts every flower's a perfect one." I wonder if the poignant imagery of "She Is My Sin" is indicative of the rest of Wishmaster?

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Lyrics: 3/5
Music: 4/5
Vocal(s): 5/5
Overall: 7/10

"Ever Dream" by Nightwish from Century Child

Pity I don't know more about music genres; "Ever Dream" is a fun song to classify. It has a definite foundation that I understand as power metal, but above that is something else entirely. It's not just Tarja Turunen's operatic voice that appears again in Century Child, producing a love/hate response in listeners. I'm tempted to call the song "Ever Dream" something comparable to Evanescence's "My Immortal" (band version) meets power metal.

The music to "Ever Dream" is easily among the best I've heard from Nightwish, not that I've heard too many of their songs, but it's certainly better than the music element of even the hit "She Is My Sin". Of the Nightwish songs I've heard so far, "Ever Dream" and "Nemo" rank as my favorites on a purely musical level.

On a lyrical level, however, "Ever Dream" is another story entirely. "Give in for my touch, for my taste, for my lust," Tarja Turunen sings. No, thank you, and I think I'll keep my brother away from you, pretty lady. If "yours I truly wish to be," then why does the narrator seem to be speaking of a one-night fling? Maybe I'm misunderstanding it, but I don't think so. At least it's more oblique than explicit.

Sadly, the "eh" lyrics dramatically lower the quality of an otherwise lovely song.

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Lyrics: 3/5
Music: 5/5
Vocalist(s): 5/5
Overall: 6/10

"Nemo" by Nightwish from Once

Yay for pretty mus—hey, wait…

Did I hear that right? Where's the Replay button? The lovely piano beginning of "Nemo" (Latin for "No One") introduces and accents the heavy metal throughout the song. This single from Once didn't top charts in Finland on day one of its release without cause. Tarja Turunen's classically-trained voice soars with the weirdly pretty heavy metal. (Unfortunately, that piano is the most striking part of the song. The middle is much more ordinary.)

Even disregarding lyrics, this song is probably my favorite by Nightwish. If I could play an instrument, I'd want to learn that piano part of "Nemo." I wouldn't need much more encouragement to buy Once if I had the money, which I sadly don't at the moment. The heavy metal still manages to keep a classic beauty in its heart.

The lyrics of "Nemo" worried me a bit at the beginning, calling the narrator "for forever one of the lost ones," but they ultimately take that premise and have "Nemo" lost in the dark "forevermore". She is fallen, lost and nameless. The way it talks about that is a bit strange, but that seems to be Nightwish. (Or maybe I'm clueless; that's a possibility. I can't understand symbolism.)

I recommend this song to fans of heavy metal or operatic metal; I like the song, and I by far usually prefer the latter to the former.

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Lyrics: 4/5
Music: 4/5
Vocalist(s): 5/5
Overall: 8/10