We left 'Heidi Parviainen' in 2018 with the last chapter 'The Golden Moth' of the remarkable trilogy 'The Chronicles' and 2020 sees the release of a new story in the land of fairy tales and we therefore find ourself in this fantastic universe with a new heroine 'Luna' who will have to navigate in a mythical world filled with fantastic creatures with of course, in the role of the villain, 'Mörk', who will give her a hard time. Therefore, if you have followed the previous albums, we find ourselves in the same atmosphere and, musically, it is also the case because everything is done to offer us accessible symphonic metal with melodies that we tame immediately. / br>
And as often in this kind of concept album, the scene is set thanks to the symphonic title 'My Name is Luna' with its orchestral atmosphere of a fantastic world which presents the heroine 'Luna', then, 'The Chosen One' takes us, after an introduction with electronic keyboard sounds (reminiscent of Heidi's former band 'Amberian Dawn') in a catchy title with a heady first melody and energetic riffs of guitar, the singing of Heidi remarkably alternating the clear and lyrical registers. With 'Illuminate', which was the subject of a video here, we continue in this melodic and powerful atmosphere with a catchy chorus that is easily embedded in the head, then , 'Melancholia' (see video above) takes over with fairly quick verses which give way to a mid-tempo chorus with a nice calmer section in the 2nd part of the title. Then follows the beautiful ballad 'Iceheart', with intonations from the land of the rising sun, in which 'Heidi Parviainen' once again shows us her talent in calmer compositions and 'La Folie Verte' takes us on a theatrical title with remarkable symphonic instrumental arrangements and once again a very demonstrative interpretation of Heidi. As for 'The Wolf and the Maiden', it is still a potential hit with a beautiful vocal section brought by the duo 'Parviainen'/'Leppäluoto', then, 'The Hex' adds still a hit to the album with a new fairly classic chorus but so effective that won't never leave you. The end of the album is on the same level and offers us an epic 'All Ears!' (See video here) with a marked rhythm, 'The Devil's Peak' between ballad and mid -tempo, the magnificent 'Mörk' which, with more than 7 minutes, is undoubtedly the most original track of the album, mixing epic and theatrical atmospheres and endowed with beautiful melodic lines, and finally 'The Dark Throne' which closes the opus in a calmer atmosphere with a new beautiful and gentle performance by 'Heidi Parviainen' filled with emotion
In summary, this fourth album of 'Dark Sarah' confirms all the good that we thought of them with their previous offerings and the Finns are now an essential formation of so-called 'Cinematographic' metal, mixing symphonic, melodic , theatrical atmospheres and conveying fantastic stories which makes 'Grim' an opus to recommend not only to fans of symphonic metal but also to a wider audience of metal loving beautiful fairy tales and an accessible metal... | |
