Compared to the last album 'Kings & Queens' that I had appreciated (see here), with this latest opus 'The Quest', the line-up has evolved again and it is 'Chen Balbus' ('Orphaned Land') and 'Troy Donockley' ('Nightwish') who support their colleagues of 'Delain' and 'Blind Guardian'. Given this prestigious cast, one might expect a symphonic metal close to the bands whose musicians are from, but 'Leah McHenry', who lives in the province of British Columbia in Canada, is more influenced by Celtic roots and even if riffs of electric guitars are there and brings power, the result could be called symphonic folk metal with as typical example the eponymous title of the album with a first chorus that does enter easily in your head. The following scrolls beautiful melodic compositions with first of all titles close to the symphonic metal as the energetic and powerful 'Edge of Your Sword', the beautiful mid-tempo 'Lion Arises' where Leah shows all his vocal talent or 'Heir', more classic, or the beautiful power ballad 'Labyrinth', and then others mixing metal and folk like 'Ruins of Illusion' or 'Oblivion' whose melodic lines recall Celtic sounds, the accompaniment of instruments like the flute of Troy reinforcing this mood. Also worthy of note is a beautiful stripped reinterpretation of the Irish traditional song 'The Water Is Wide' that 'Gilles Servat' adapted into Breton ('Divent an Dour') and that 'Tri Yann' released in 2004 on the 'Marine' album and that Bretons often play live (see here). In summary, 'Leah McHenry' continues to enchant us with this unique style that she knew how to create by mixing symphonic metal and Celtic influences and 'The Quest' is probably intended not only for fans of symphonic metal but also for a much wider audience which is amateur of accessible melodies... | |
