Label: Napalm Records
Band + title: Leaves’ Eyes (Meredead) / Midnattsol (The Metamorphosis Melody)
Release date: June 22nd 2011
Review: CD

Why comparing these two bands? Well, actually there are several reasons to make such a comparison.

Primo: label and release-date: Leaves’ Eyes and Midnattsol did release most of their material through Austrian label Napalm Records before, and this still goes for their newest efforts. Both bands’ new albums are available at the store as from the same date.

Secundo: Espenæs: both sisters are rather known within the scene, and both of them differ and are comparable at the same time. Liv Kristine got best known as front-woman for Theatre Of Tragedy’s earliest years, and she did collaborate as guest with hundreds of same-minded bands or projects too - think: Silke Bischoff, Delain, Legio Mortis, Atrocity (the main band of Leaves’ Eyes’ producer and Liv Kristine’s husband Alexander Krull), WeltenBrand, Cradle Of Filth and many others. Her sister Carmen Elise, singer in Midnattsol, is lesser known, yet at least she’s as convincing as her famous sister.

Tertio: the definition of both bands’ music: ‘female fronted Metal’. I actually want to piss on this nomination, because it’s ridiculous to call a Metal band with a girl / woman behind the microphone ‘female fronted’. I’ve never seen / heard bands like Arch Enemy, Sinister, Astarte, Opera IX / Cadaveria, Wykked Wytch, Abyzz, Derketa and hundreds of others, being labelled as ‘female fronted’. The singer, nevertheless, is female, the music is Metal, so why not in these bands’ cases? As soon as the music gets somewhat gothic or symphonic oriented: let’s call it ‘female fronted Metal’… Cheap, very cheap and pathetic.
Yet still one cannot ignore a certain symmetry between both bands.

Quartio: Norway as lyrical source of inspiration: even though Leaves’ Eyes and Midnattsol tap a different tune, both musically and lyrically, they both pay tribute to the history and culture of this historically inspiring Scandinavian country.

And so on…

Anyway, this review-special is about two new recordings by two highly interesting and prominent bands within their specific genre.
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Band: Leaves’ Eyes
Title: Meredead

Meredead is the fourth album of trans-European act Leaves’ Eyes, and from musical and compository point of view it is mostly comparable to their latest effort, Njord (postal date: November 9th 2009), yet again with some progressed differences, as well as elements from both Vinland Saga (the direct approach) and Lovelorn (the Folk-elements). No difference with the sound, of course, because again it was Atrocity’s Alexander Krull who took care of the studio duties. And that stands for top-production. By the way, Alexander took care of the male vocals as well.
Meredead is very varying again, taking elements from diverse genres and spheres. The intro on opening song Spirit’s Masquerade, for example, starts with Scala-alike vocals and militaristic drums, it introduces bag pipes (or uileann pipes?), and as soon as the song takes it ‘true shape’, I hear both bombast and soberness, both aggression and tranquillity. I see windy shores, ancient tribes, mythology and magic going hand in hand, tradition and classical basements as fundament. It might be the most varying song, and it certainly is a splendid opener. Tracks like Étaín or Sigrlinn are more epic inspired (including non-Metal instruments), yet still of the bombastic-symphonic kind, Kråkevisa or Nystev come closer to traditional Folk Metal, and songs like Velvet Heart stand, in contrast to the heavier ones, for catchy and somewhat poppy Gothic Metal / Rock.
Worth mentioning is the unique and innovative interpretation of Mike Oldfield’s To France, by the way!

79/100
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Band: Midnattsol
Title: The Metamorphosis Melody

To share their mutual passion for music on the one hand, and Nordic (more specific: Norwegian) mythology on the other, Carmen Elise Espenaes and Christian Hector, involved with Penetralia (orchestral Black Metal) and Ahab (excellent Funeral Doom), created Midnattsol in 2002. After they signed to Napalm Records shortly after the release of the first demo, they released their debut full length Where Twilight Dwells, and the band was able to perform on big festivals such as Wave Gotik, Summer Breeze and The Metal Female Voices Festival, along with an intensive tour with In Extremo. The second full length, Nordlys (review posted on March 28th 2008) was recorded at the Mastersound Studio (vocals) and Klangschmiede E Studio (instruments) with Autumnblaze / The Vision Bleak / Nachtmahr / Sun Of The Sleepless / Noekk-member Markus Stock, and the latter (Klangschmiede E) is the studio where Midnattsol did record this third full length too, again with Markus Stock (who did productional work for nice combos like Dornenreich, Wolfchant, Marienbad, Dark Sanctuary, Secrets Of The Moon and tens of others as well). In mean time, Chris left the band, but it didn’t stop the band to continue working on new material.
The Metamorphosis Melody nearly clocks an hour and it goes mainly on in the vein, of course, of 2008’s Nordlys. The album starts with a bombastic and symphonic intro, called Alva, followed by the title track, which reminds me to the former album(s), yet with two small yet rather important differences: the heavier approach and less Folk-parts. The melodic hymns are both atmospheric and gothic-alike, balancing between two contrasts: operatic and symphonic orchestrations versus rocking drives.
Carmen Elise’s classical skilled vocals fit correctly to these compositions, even though her range is less variative than her sister’s.
Personally I prefer the former album, which was much stronger than the debut. Why? I can’t really point specific reasons, but The Metamorphosis Melody can’t thrill me that much in general, and a few parts are much too prepared for an obvious audience.

72/100
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Ivan Tibos.