Not Bad, But Not New Either
After Liv Kristine worked with Cradle of Filth on 'Nymphetamine', many CoF fans flocked to listen to Leaves' Eyes and were surprisingly converted. Although having attracted many people hungry for yet more Goth/Symphonic Metal, many people will not bother to check out Leaves' Eyes because they feel that there are too many Symphonic/Goth bands fronted by attractive females, and basically this band aren't really any different to that.
The opening track 'Vinland Saga' is the 'Intro' to this album, although it might seem a bit too long to be an intro. Anyway, this song has a Folk/Viking feel to it and is a decent intro, which leads up to the best song on the album entitled 'Farewell Proud Men' which is the only outstanding track that this album has to offer.
The problem with this album is that it has too many songs that sound alike and are just "alright" but there is barely more than one track that could be called brilliant. Each track has a similar feel to the previous song, apart from a few songs like 'Leaves' Eyes', which is a peaceful acoustic offering that's well worth a mention. Also, 'Mourning Tree' which is another acoustic song but again is not dissimilar to 'Leaves' Eyes'.
Other tracks worth a listen on this album are 'The Thorn' and 'New Found Land'. The rest of the tracks as I mentioned earlier, are merely average.
This band could be so much better, but they lack one skill…Creativity. Leaves' Eyes seem to leech off bands like Within Temptation and Nightwish - there is nothing on this album that hasn't been done before whatsoever.
After lead singer Liv Kristine has fronted a band like Theatre Of Tragedy, it is hard to see why she even bothered forming Leaves' Eyes, and they are nothing more than another European Goth/Symphonic Band. If this band kept re-writing the same song, they would probably fade never to be seen again, but people will always buy their albums purely because Liv Kristine fronts them, so they have Cradle of Filth fans, Theatre Of Tragedy fans, hardcore Goth/Symphonic bands and probably some Kerrang! Readers who think the singer is hot. Overall, a decent effort, but nothing overly special.