Band : Tarja
Album title : What Lies Beneath
Label : Universal Records
Distributor : Universal Records
Release Date : 11/10/2010
Release : CD

Tarja’s third solo CD, after her departure, or was it a dismission from Nightwish.  And a good CD it is once again.  Although Tarja fails to really choose a style, what never fails to impress me is her crystal clear soprano voice. I must admit she is one of the few female vocalists that get away with this style of opera-esque singing backed up by rock music.

What I mean by saying that she’s lacking to choose one style is that like on the previous albums it’s a mix of goth influenced songs, but also with folky touches.
It’s very hard to pick a single track as best of the album.  I’ve got quite a few favorites, going from the (somewhat) slower song "Underneath", that features some mighty guitar work, to "Little Lies", that’s almost trash metal,  to "Dark Star" that starts with a chanting you’re more likely to hear in some Arab country where the muezzin calls his believers for the morning or evening prayer.  Each and every track has that little something that makes it a real gem.  "Rivers Of Lust" for instance is a song that is not even a rock song.  This could easily be played in an opera or might be used as film music.

This album proves, if that still needed to be proved, that there’s a career for Tarja after Nightwish.

90/100

Erik Morren.