EDENBRIDGE – Shangri-La
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Edenbridge from Austria have been around for almost a quarter of a century and the band around guitarist and songwriter Lanvall and his partner and singer Sabine Edelsbacher must be counted among the greats of the symphonic metal scene. There have been no line-up changes since 2017 and it’s rare for Edenbridge to record two albums with the same line-up. There was no reason to do so and so Shangri-La can also maintain the class of its predecessor Dynamind from 2019. An opener, At First Sight, running a little over eight minutes surely is an unusual choice. However, this brisk uptempo song is a very good choice, as the band can immediately show what they are capable of. After a more dominant guitar use in the beginning, the middle of the song offers more melodic and orchestral passages, which remind a bit of Pink Floyd. The Call Of Eden is the first single and rarely before have Edenbridge written such a catchy song. When Hall Of Shame, one of the hardest Edenbridge songs, follows, you already have a premonition that this is one of the band's best albums so far. But Edenbridge is also known for putting one or two ballads on each album. The fourth track Savage Land is rather unspectacular, with nothing much happening for four minutes. The Spotify numbers show that this track doesn't really resonate with the listeners. But this is the only failure this time, because after that there follow quite a few strongly arranged and varied songs, whereby I would like to mention the title track. Lanvall has always been interested in the mystical, especially combined with an Asian background. He plays the sitar at the beginning, before the piece becomes very melodic and rousing. The cover artwork ought to be mentioned too. It was drawn by Muhammed K. Nazia from the United Arab Emirates and depicts the Buddhist paradise Shangri-La. In the sagas, this is a place of retreat that exerts a magical attraction on people. Finally, we come to the highlight of the album with The Bonding (Part 2), a sixteen-minute epic divided into five parts. On this continuation of the title track from the 2013 album, the symphonic metal fan is treated to bombast, choirs, symphonic moments and many catchy verses and choruses. The use of a male voice in the form of Erik Mantensson (Eclipse, W.E.T.) proves its worth completely, as he provides exciting moments in duets and/or duels with Sabine Edelsbacher. At the end, the piece turns wonderfully kitschy, like watching the end credits of a Disney film. Shangri-La is Edenbridge's most versatile and exciting album to date. The band has been around for such a long time now and although you can put them in the symphonic metal realm, this shouldn’t mean that the ideas have disappeared over time. There’s no uniformity, the band is always reinventing itself. Not much was missing to reach the highest score of 10. However, they have set the bar very high to top this result. A person who is as obsessed with music as Lanvall is will find the motivation to achieve this. |
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13 songs |
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57:55 minutes |
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***** **** |
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Genre: symphonic metal Label: AFM |
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