Njord is the third full length from Swedish / German gothic, symphonic, Viking metal band Leaves’ Eyes. Leaves’ Eyes encompass many sounds to create a very grand, theatrical sound. As the opening track comes in, with the sound of waves thrashing in the background, I can picture this being played over the opening scenes of Pirates of the Caribbean or something similar.
Vocalist Liv Kristine’s haunting, almost operatic performance adds a great level of power throughout. Her voice is both soothing and engaging and keeps you listening throughout, with the orchestral backing only adding to her vocal strengths. At times, keyboardist and singer Liv Kristine’s husband, Alexander Krull, likes to get in on the singing and adds in some death style vocals over a few parts here and there. I think that Leaves’ Eyes’ whole sound has something so beautiful and Krull's vocals take away from that and kind of cheapen the whole thing. Thankfully his vocals only feature for a small portion of the track(s).
For fans of female fronted metal, such as Nightwish, Leaves’ Eyes encapsulate a power front woman with a great voice and tie it with epic, theatrical music. The package works and the orchestration is spot on. "Njord" also includes a rather odd cover of ‘Scarborough Fair,’ which starts off all "nicey nicey" and develops in to a full on metal version. It does work but is also a little bit weird and unexpected.
There are catchy choruses, wonderfully passionate vocals and fabulous orchestration and musicianship, a very surprising amount of quality from a band that I had, until just now, never heard of.
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Leaves' Eyes - Njord [Album
