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Trollheart · 10-13-2013, 08:26 AM

The Second Coming --- Eden's Curse --- 2008 (AFM)

I was so impressed with the third effort from Eden's Curse, "Trinity", that I went right out and hunted down their other albums. Turns out they only had two, though with a new one out this year that makes four in all, but I thought it might be appropriate, this being Metal Month an' all, to have a listen to their second offering, rather cleverly called "The Second Coming". They've only been around since 2006, so three albums over that relatively short period is not bad. Though, was "Trinity" an exception? Can we expect quality of that sort to have been the norm for this band? Well very little is the norm for them really. They're a cosmopolitan lot, with an American vocalist (who gives the band their name), German keyboard player and guitarist and an Italian keysman who replaced the German one. I see that Micheal Eden, the original vocalist, has left this year and that in fact the replacement keyboard player has himself been replaced and the only original members left in the band are the bass player, drummer and guitarist. However I haven't yet heard their new album and so I can't tell you if the new lineup is any good. This album features the original crew, with original keyboardist Ferdy Doernberg, who had been replaced by Allessandro del Vecchio on "Trinity".

As that album did, "The Second Coming" opens on a weird little atmospheric instrumental, kind of echoing in some ways Rainbow's "The eyes of the world", with a sort of orchestral sound that settles into what sounds like a Russian folk tune, with dogs, or maybe wolves or even coyotes, baying in the background. A shot, it seems, rings out and people begin to scream and run, and we plunge right into "Masquerade ball" on the back of powerful keyboard runs from Doernberg and punchy guitar from Thorsten Kohne, and then Michael Eden's clear strong voice comes through. You'd have to allow that Eden's Curse often cross over into near-AOR territory, and the opener typifies this, though it's still a powerful, upbeat and strong song. Great but short organ solo and some superb vocal harmonies, and we crash into "Angels and demons", on a thick little bass line and sweeping synths keys before Kohne's guitar breaks through and the whole thing takes off.

I have to wonder how the band are going to sound without Michael Eden, as his voice really is the lynchpin this band hangs on, but as I say I have yet to sample this year's "Sin". Expect a report in due course: till now I didn't even know they had a new album, never mind a new lineup. A real hooky song, this rocks along with great purpose and really wouldn't be very much out of place on the radio, sort of reminds me of a heavier and less commercial Night Ranger. Or maybe Millenium, who you won't know. A great solo from Kohne, matched by Doernberg on the keys, and the song rocks along to its conclusion, Eden's voice pulling it along liek a steam locomotive. Things slow down then, but not for a ballad. "Just like Judas" is more a power rock cruncher, with driving guitar reminiscent of the darker, heavier side of Maiden mixed with an almost Bon Jovi "Whoa-oh-oh!" chorus. One thing Eden's Curse do really well is write very catchy songs, and I find myself singing the choruses of nearly every track so far.

Of course, no metal band worth its salt fails to compose a decent ballad, and Eden's Curse are no exception. "Sail on" rides on a soft keyboard line and chimy guitar, and indeed ramps up after about a minute into something that is ... really not a ballad. Fooled me. Another catchy, energetic song with some great vocal harmonies and fine guitar solos, it features some great rolling piano work from Doernberg too, as well as another cool but short organ solo. Definitely more on the melodic side of heavy metal, Eden's Curse nevertheless rock as hard as any band you know, and in many ways they remind me of one of my favourites, Ten. But again you wouldn't know them. "Lost in Wonderland" is a great example of their harder, heavier side, mostly guitar-driven and with a more forceful vocal from Michael Eden, though the AOR feel leaks in at the chorus. It's no bad thing though: this is their style after all.

Very progressive and atmospheric opening to "West wind blows" but it soon kicks into life with Kohne's guitar taking charge and Eden's voice rising above the music as he bemoans not having been able to say goodbye to a loved one who has passed away. Ferdy Doernberg's screaming keyboard joins in and a great soundscape results, the song full of anger and regret. In contrast a big guitar passage opens "Signs of your life" and it rocks along with power and purpose, and one of the best hooks I've heard in a chorus for quite some time. Great lyric too: "Chasin' the rainbow /With pots of gold as far as the eye can see /Here comes the rain." Doerbnerg then outdoes himself with a heartbreakingly beautiful piano intro as the longest track on the album by a few seconds, "Man against the world", slides in with soft acoustic guitar joining and you'd wonder is this the ballad we've been waiting for, expecting? More spot-on vocal harmonies, this time sounding like there's a female in there though who it is I have no idea.

This is definitely the ballad, and very nice it is. Very much piano driven with a great and dextrous display on the ivories by Ferdy Doernberg, the lyric is perhaps a little trite -- "If we all join hands/ If we all join hearts/ We can make a change for/ The children of tomorrow" --- but that doesn't really detract from the beauty of the song. It's back to rockin' hard then for "Raven's revenge", with Thorsten Hoehne cranking up his guitar again and letting loose, while drummer Pete Newdeck and bassist Paul Logue lay down the rhythm. Another lovely little piano run opens "Lost soul" with a superb little descending organ and piano line, and I must admit to being wrong. Again. This is the longest track on the album; at six and a half minutes it beats out "Man against the world" by a clear minute. Very anthemic, very energetic with piles of hooks again, but nothing that wouldn't be at home in any metalhead's collection.

One of the catchiest songs is in fact the penultimate, "Games people play", with its infectious but low-in-the-mix keyboard lines and its chugging, just-happy-to-be-playin' guitar allied to a thunderously addictive drumbeat with Eden's vocals adding a final layer of quality over this that makes you think "Christ! Why was this not on the radio and a big hit?" Yeah, it's just that good. It's impossible to keep your feet still while listening to this, and the album comes to end on the rip-roaring "Ride the storm", another just ridiculously catchy song with more hooks than a really expert fisherman, a grinding pounding guitar that goes all Lizzy for a while, a passionate and powerful vocal from Michael Eden, and just one hell of a curtain call that marks the second Eden's Curse album that gets the double thumbs-up from me.

TRACKLISTING

1. Reign of terror
2. Masquerade ball
3. Angels and demons
4. Just like Judas
5. Sail on
6. Lost in Wonderland
7. West wind blows
8. Signs of life
9. Man against the world
10. Raven's revenge
11. Lost soul
12. Games people play
13. Ride the storm

Metal purists and harcore headbangers --- Batlord, I'm looking at you! --- will probably sneer that this is not metal. AOR, they'll say. Soft rock. Anything else, just not metal. But I defy anyone to listen to the guitars of Thorsten Koehne and call him anything other than an overlooked metal god in the making. This album, this band may have more melody than your average metal fan would prefer, but me, I like my music to be heavy and melodic, so it's a winner with me. Like Shadow Gallery, Balance of Power, Threshold and of course Ten, Eden's Curse produce massive hooks, satisfying choruses and fist-pumping anthems while still keeping it hard and heavy enough to, in my book at least, qualify them as at the very least melodic metal.

Come on, give these guys a listen. You don't want to miss the Second Coming, now do you?

Read more here http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/...s_Curse/102073

10-13-2013, 08:26 AM	#1949 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,996	The Second Coming --- Eden's Curse --- 2008 (AFM) I was so impressed with the third effort from Eden's Curse, "Trinity", that I went right out and hunted down their other albums. Turns out they only had two, though with a new one out this year that makes four in all, but I thought it might be appropriate, this being Metal Month an' all, to have a listen to their second offering, rather cleverly called "The Second Coming". They've only been around since 2006, so three albums over that relatively short period is not bad. Though, was "Trinity" an exception? Can we expect quality of that sort to have been the norm for this band? Well very little is the norm for them really. They're a cosmopolitan lot, with an American vocalist (who gives the band their name), German keyboard player and guitarist and an Italian keysman who replaced the German one. I see that Micheal Eden, the original vocalist, has left this year and that in fact the replacement keyboard player has himself been replaced and the only original members left in the band are the bass player, drummer and guitarist. However I haven't yet heard their new album and so I can't tell you if the new lineup is any good. This album features the original crew, with original keyboardist Ferdy Doernberg, who had been replaced by Allessandro del Vecchio on "Trinity". As that album did, "The Second Coming" opens on a weird little atmospheric instrumental, kind of echoing in some ways Rainbow's "The eyes of the world", with a sort of orchestral sound that settles into what sounds like a Russian folk tune, with dogs, or maybe wolves or even coyotes, baying in the background. A shot, it seems, rings out and people begin to scream and run, and we plunge right into "Masquerade ball" on the back of powerful keyboard runs from Doernberg and punchy guitar from Thorsten Kohne, and then Michael Eden's clear strong voice comes through. You'd have to allow that Eden's Curse often cross over into near-AOR territory, and the opener typifies this, though it's still a powerful, upbeat and strong song. Great but short organ solo and some superb vocal harmonies, and we crash into "Angels and demons", on a thick little bass line and sweeping synths keys before Kohne's guitar breaks through and the whole thing takes off. I have to wonder how the band are going to sound without Michael Eden, as his voice really is the lynchpin this band hangs on, but as I say I have yet to sample this year's "Sin". Expect a report in due course: till now I didn't even know they had a new album, never mind a new lineup. A real hooky song, this rocks along with great purpose and really wouldn't be very much out of place on the radio, sort of reminds me of a heavier and less commercial Night Ranger. Or maybe Millenium, who you won't know. A great solo from Kohne, matched by Doernberg on the keys, and the song rocks along to its conclusion, Eden's voice pulling it along liek a steam locomotive. Things slow down then, but not for a ballad. "Just like Judas" is more a power rock cruncher, with driving guitar reminiscent of the darker, heavier side of Maiden mixed with an almost Bon Jovi "Whoa-oh-oh!" chorus. One thing Eden's Curse do really well is write very catchy songs, and I find myself singing the choruses of nearly every track so far. Of course, no metal band worth its salt fails to compose a decent ballad, and Eden's Curse are no exception. "Sail on" rides on a soft keyboard line and chimy guitar, and indeed ramps up after about a minute into something that is ... really not a ballad. Fooled me. Another catchy, energetic song with some great vocal harmonies and fine guitar solos, it features some great rolling piano work from Doernberg too, as well as another cool but short organ solo. Definitely more on the melodic side of heavy metal, Eden's Curse nevertheless rock as hard as any band you know, and in many ways they remind me of one of my favourites, Ten. But again you wouldn't know them. "Lost in Wonderland" is a great example of their harder, heavier side, mostly guitar-driven and with a more forceful vocal from Michael Eden, though the AOR feel leaks in at the chorus. It's no bad thing though: this is their style after all. Very progressive and atmospheric opening to "West wind blows" but it soon kicks into life with Kohne's guitar taking charge and Eden's voice rising above the music as he bemoans not having been able to say goodbye to a loved one who has passed away. Ferdy Doernberg's screaming keyboard joins in and a great soundscape results, the song full of anger and regret. In contrast a big guitar passage opens "Signs of your life" and it rocks along with power and purpose, and one of the best hooks I've heard in a chorus for quite some time. Great lyric too: "Chasin' the rainbow /With pots of gold as far as the eye can see /Here comes the rain." Doerbnerg then outdoes himself with a heartbreakingly beautiful piano intro as the longest track on the album by a few seconds, "Man against the world", slides in with soft acoustic guitar joining and you'd wonder is this the ballad we've been waiting for, expecting? More spot-on vocal harmonies, this time sounding like there's a female in there though who it is I have no idea. This is definitely the ballad, and very nice it is. Very much piano driven with a great and dextrous display on the ivories by Ferdy Doernberg, the lyric is perhaps a little trite -- "If we all join hands/ If we all join hearts/ We can make a change for/ The children of tomorrow" --- but that doesn't really detract from the beauty of the song. It's back to rockin' hard then for "Raven's revenge", with Thorsten Hoehne cranking up his guitar again and letting loose, while drummer Pete Newdeck and bassist Paul Logue lay down the rhythm. Another lovely little piano run opens "Lost soul" with a superb little descending organ and piano line, and I must admit to being wrong. Again. This is the longest track on the album; at six and a half minutes it beats out "Man against the world" by a clear minute. Very anthemic, very energetic with piles of hooks again, but nothing that wouldn't be at home in any metalhead's collection. One of the catchiest songs is in fact the penultimate, "Games people play", with its infectious but low-in-the-mix keyboard lines and its chugging, just-happy-to-be-playin' guitar allied to a thunderously addictive drumbeat with Eden's vocals adding a final layer of quality over this that makes you think "Christ! Why was this not on the radio and a big hit?" Yeah, it's just that good. It's impossible to keep your feet still while listening to this, and the album comes to end on the rip-roaring "Ride the storm", another just ridiculously catchy song with more hooks than a really expert fisherman, a grinding pounding guitar that goes all Lizzy for a while, a passionate and powerful vocal from Michael Eden, and just one hell of a curtain call that marks the second Eden's Curse album that gets the double thumbs-up from me. TRACKLISTING 1. Reign of terror 2. Masquerade ball 3. Angels and demons 4. Just like Judas 5. Sail on 6. Lost in Wonderland 7. West wind blows 8. Signs of life 9. Man against the world 10. Raven's revenge 11. Lost soul 12. Games people play 13. Ride the storm Metal purists and harcore headbangers --- Batlord, I'm looking at you! --- will probably sneer that this is not metal. AOR, they'll say. Soft rock. Anything else, just not metal. But I defy anyone to listen to the guitars of Thorsten Koehne and call him anything other than an overlooked metal god in the making. This album, this band may have more melody than your average metal fan would prefer, but me, I like my music to be heavy and melodic, so it's a winner with me. Like Shadow Gallery, Balance of Power, Threshold and of course Ten, Eden's Curse produce massive hooks, satisfying choruses and fist-pumping anthems while still keeping it hard and heavy enough to, in my book at least, qualify them as at the very least melodic metal. Come on, give these guys a listen. You don't want to miss the Second Coming, now do you? Read more here http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/...s_Curse/102073 __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 10-25-2013 at 12:52 PM.