After a refreshing 'Darkness of Eternity' in 2017 (see here), the Finns of 'Amberian Dawn' led by the keyboardist player 'Tuomas Seppälä' release a new album 'Looking for You' which is already the 9th and their label of 'Abba Métal' has never been so appropriate.
Let's start with the compositions which could all have been written in the 70s so the melodies are close to those of the Swedes : 'United' opens the ball with keyboards which constitute the very basis of the melodic lines, the guitars being relegated to the background and in the solos, then, 'Eternal Fire Burning' continues with a catchy rhythm, followed by one of the hits from the album 'Looking for You' and 'Two Blades' with its choruses and melodic lines which seem familiar to us, continues in this well traced path. The other compositions also in the same style are ‘Go for a Ride’ and ‘Butterfly’ which is another melodic jewel and we say that, on this type of light and joyful compositions, the pupil is largely at the level of the master. In the ballad section, ‘Universe’ and the instrumental short ‘Au Revoir’ are also in the fabric of ’ABBA’ and bring us back to those of the Swedes; the only title that stands out is ‘Symphony Nr. 1 Part 3 - Awakening’ which is a symphonic and theatrical title in which the contribution of ‘Fabio Lione’ offers us a beautiful vocal duet with Päivi.
In summary, the Finns of 'Amberian Dawn' continue to claim loud and clear their 'ABBA metal' label and it is not the muscular cover of 'Lay All Your Love on Me' of the Swedes who can say opposite; the similarity does not end there since, if we withdraw the cover of 'ABBA' and the remastered bonus track 'Cherish My Memory' of 2014, out of the 9 remaining tracks of 'Looking for You', 8 are all light and catchy melodic jewelry which brings us back to the Swedish albums which were also well supplied with hits and it is a safe bet that, if they had participated at eurovision in the 70s, they would certainly have done as well as their eldests... | |
