Eden’s Curse
Symphony of Sin
AFM Records
2013
Following a very ugly split from the band’s singer and basically the guy who started the band Michael Eden, over basically money issues (with the band basically hijacking the band, booking the band without the singer for dates and then denying to pay for his traveling expenses, but trying to enforce a replacement singer as well, which sounds completely unprofessional and money grabbing) the band seems to have made up the numbers with a couple of really good, musicians they brought in. Especially good is their new singer Serbian Nikola Mijic who aided by the Pathosray singer, Marco Sandron, seems to be a decent fit for the bands new direction, that seems to be a lot more hard rock oriented, than metal.
This becomes apparent straight away, as the guitars seem to take a backseat to keyboards, on even the opener and namesake of the album the melodic “Symphony of Sin” a surely pleasant enough song. Mijic, is as aforementioned, probably a little better than his predecessor, but not as strong in identity, he’s somewhat more generic, but that’s not something that someone that has not been exposed to the band might care for. Some old fans might not like the change, though. Some others may not mind that much. In my book, the rest of the band just acted like “money hungry” people and should have at least changed the name, but who walks away from $? Right?!!
Like all Eden’s Curse albums there are stronger and not so strong moments, but here the songwriting seems to suffer the most, with only some nice AOR/HR moments seemingly signing through.
“Evil and Divine” is surely a highlight, even if it’s sort of using a zillion words and images that are so cliché that you might puke if you hear them chanted in a song again...
“Fallen from Grace” has some nice singing but ultimately is pretty boring and repetitive to actually register as a “good song”…
“Rock Bottom” is somewhat better, but while the “Great Unknown” begins in a promising way with some quick percussion and keys that follow closely with great energy it feels a little patchy at best.
After a bunch of so-so number “Turn the Page” is a great song. The band seems to get it all right, maybe because they really want to turn a new page? Sure... but they could have done it with much less drama... basically this one would be a great separation song! (You don’t know me at all... how true!)
“Sign of the Cross” begins with a declaration in Latin that “we have a pope” habemus papa”! The song itself explores slightly prog territory, but it ain’t too interesting. A little too techy, too boring, too quickly.
“Wings to Fly” is a lot better, one of the better tracks on the album actually, a very melodic song with fantastic harmonies and superb singing, which sort of makes it hard for me to really “be bad”. On one hand, I dislike what these guys have done, there’s the change of direction, that I see with a “half eye” but I sort of can take, but then there are at least 3 superb songs, a pretty good singer and a couple of more decent tunes, among some more mundane offerings. It’s a pretty uneven album.
“Devil in disguise” is not bad, but it ain’t some diabolically good song either, it’s sort of predictable, with some “wickedly” playful, chiming keyboards and a slightly more twisted atmosphere when compared to the rest of the songs of the album, a bit heavier, I suppose.
Finally there’s “Where Is the Love?” a question that probably M.E, might have asked time and again. It’s a decent ponderous power semi-ballad with rich keyboard textures towards the end.
Well, I’ve expressed my feelings towards the album a couple of paragraphs earlier. It’s middle of the road. Good if not great new singer, but them “rest of the guys” in the band gave an unceremonious boot to the original guy who started the band, because of money they didn’t want to pay over transportation costs because he lived in another continent? LAME! Mega-Lame in fact! Maybe they should start calling themselves “We didn’t get Michael Eden’s Blessing, We’re Eden’s Curse”
then, from now on! All jokes aside, there are 3-4 really strong songs on this album and you might want to check it out. Be warned that it’s another singer and another line-up, so don’t be misled.
This becomes apparent straight away, as the guitars seem to take a backseat to keyboards, on even the opener and namesake of the album the melodic “Symphony of Sin” a surely pleasant enough song. Mijic, is as aforementioned, probably a little better than his predecessor, but not as strong in identity, he’s somewhat more generic, but that’s not something that someone that has not been exposed to the band might care for. Some old fans might not like the change, though. Some others may not mind that much. In my book, the rest of the band just acted like “money hungry” people and should have at least changed the name, but who walks away from $? Right?!!
Like all Eden’s Curse albums there are stronger and not so strong moments, but here the songwriting seems to suffer the most, with only some nice AOR/HR moments seemingly signing through.
“Evil and Divine” is surely a highlight, even if it’s sort of using a zillion words and images that are so cliché that you might puke if you hear them chanted in a song again...
“Fallen from Grace” has some nice singing but ultimately is pretty boring and repetitive to actually register as a “good song”…
“Rock Bottom” is somewhat better, but while the “Great Unknown” begins in a promising way with some quick percussion and keys that follow closely with great energy it feels a little patchy at best.
After a bunch of so-so number “Turn the Page” is a great song. The band seems to get it all right, maybe because they really want to turn a new page? Sure... but they could have done it with much less drama... basically this one would be a great separation song! (You don’t know me at all... how true!)
“Sign of the Cross” begins with a declaration in Latin that “we have a pope” habemus papa”! The song itself explores slightly prog territory, but it ain’t too interesting. A little too techy, too boring, too quickly.
“Wings to Fly” is a lot better, one of the better tracks on the album actually, a very melodic song with fantastic harmonies and superb singing, which sort of makes it hard for me to really “be bad”. On one hand, I dislike what these guys have done, there’s the change of direction, that I see with a “half eye” but I sort of can take, but then there are at least 3 superb songs, a pretty good singer and a couple of more decent tunes, among some more mundane offerings. It’s a pretty uneven album.
“Devil in disguise” is not bad, but it ain’t some diabolically good song either, it’s sort of predictable, with some “wickedly” playful, chiming keyboards and a slightly more twisted atmosphere when compared to the rest of the songs of the album, a bit heavier, I suppose.
Finally there’s “Where Is the Love?” a question that probably M.E, might have asked time and again. It’s a decent ponderous power semi-ballad with rich keyboard textures towards the end.
Well, I’ve expressed my feelings towards the album a couple of paragraphs earlier. It’s middle of the road. Good if not great new singer, but them “rest of the guys” in the band gave an unceremonious boot to the original guy who started the band, because of money they didn’t want to pay over transportation costs because he lived in another continent? LAME! Mega-Lame in fact! Maybe they should start calling themselves “We didn’t get Michael Eden’s Blessing, We’re Eden’s Curse”
then, from now on! All jokes aside, there are 3-4 really strong songs on this album and you might want to check it out. Be warned that it’s another singer and another line-up, so don’t be misled.