Amberian Dawn - Magic Forest

In a music world where the artists’ antagonism has been on the red for quite some time now, any band tries to do the best they can in order to be a part of the game and drive more fans to their camp. So did the Finnish symphonic metalers when they changed their lead singer last year. Capri was introduced to us by the compilation album “Re-Evolution” but her actual “debut” is now, marking a new era for the band.
 
Weirdly enough the band’s sound has become a bit more symphonic than in the past… and in truth to be told, it does blend with Capri’s vocals nicely. Once again Mikko P. Mustonen has done the orchestral arrangements, the vocal production and the programming. Jens Johansson (Stratovarius, Dio, Malmsteen) has contributed a keyboard solo on “Dance of Life” and Markus Nieminen does a duet with Capri on “Memorial”. The production is good even though the guitars & bass have been “buried” a bit under the vocals and the orchestral elements.
 
There are a few catchy pop-symphonic-metal tracks here which will surely make an opening for Amberian Dawn to a new audience, like: “Cherish My Memory”, “Dance of Life”, “Magic Forest”, “Warning”, “Son of Rainbow” & “Memorial”. Overall, “Magic Forest” is a quite good album which will put Amberian Danw back on the symphonic metal map, along with the big names… but as you can guess the expectations & the rivalry are getting higher henceforth…