Amberian Dawn
Re-Evolution
Encore Records
2013
At first I was surprised to see a new album by Amberian Dawn so soon. It wasn’t but a year ago that their previous work “Circus Black” was released. In the meantime, AD had a major line-up change. Their previous singer, Heidi Parviainen, left and she was replaced by Capri, who is not a lyric soprano as her predecessor. That’s where the misunderstanding might begin though.
The band thought that the best way to introduce Capri was to re-record 10 of the most representative (?), best (?) tracks of their entire back-catalogue. That would have been OK, if this was a bonus CD that would accompany their new album… but I do not think that it was a good idea to release it on its own. You see, this time fans must choose where to spent their low pocket money wisely and getting a “compilation album” ain’t that much of a wise thing to do. The band says they have re-recorded the songs but they didn’t make clear if they re-recorded them entirely or only some parts. Anyhow, that ain’t much of a problem as the sound is still powerful and good, even though the guitar is a tad higher in the mix at times. The songs have a different feeling now and they are not as symphonic or operatic as they used to be.
As for Capri, she’s prettier than her forerunner but not as musically advanced as her in a way. Heidi’s operatic style has long gone now and the band’s devotees must be ready to experience a (small or major) musical change of direction on behalf of the band. In a way that can be good, as they will make a new opening to a different audience, but conversely that might cost ‘em on losing a part of the older fan base. In any case, the band’s moving forward and they’re ready to write some new chapters on their music career book. I believe that this album is somewhat unnecessary for the reasons I explained above. If it was a bonus CD, it would have added some extra points to the whole release but since it ain’t one, I better leave it without a rate… cuz’ it’s good but truly needless even for the band’s loyal fans…
The band thought that the best way to introduce Capri was to re-record 10 of the most representative (?), best (?) tracks of their entire back-catalogue. That would have been OK, if this was a bonus CD that would accompany their new album… but I do not think that it was a good idea to release it on its own. You see, this time fans must choose where to spent their low pocket money wisely and getting a “compilation album” ain’t that much of a wise thing to do. The band says they have re-recorded the songs but they didn’t make clear if they re-recorded them entirely or only some parts. Anyhow, that ain’t much of a problem as the sound is still powerful and good, even though the guitar is a tad higher in the mix at times. The songs have a different feeling now and they are not as symphonic or operatic as they used to be.
As for Capri, she’s prettier than her forerunner but not as musically advanced as her in a way. Heidi’s operatic style has long gone now and the band’s devotees must be ready to experience a (small or major) musical change of direction on behalf of the band. In a way that can be good, as they will make a new opening to a different audience, but conversely that might cost ‘em on losing a part of the older fan base. In any case, the band’s moving forward and they’re ready to write some new chapters on their music career book. I believe that this album is somewhat unnecessary for the reasons I explained above. If it was a bonus CD, it would have added some extra points to the whole release but since it ain’t one, I better leave it without a rate… cuz’ it’s good but truly needless even for the band’s loyal fans…