Xandria - Neverworld's End Review

The album can be a lot compared to Nightwish's record (but it is not at all like Nightwish's latest record titled "Imaginaerum"). The most impressive songs I believe are "Valentine", "The Dream Is Still Alive", "A Prophecy Of Worlds To Fall". I love the power and goth feel, with a fresh style of vocals to Xandria and the better guitar work. I dislike some of the lyrics, like those in "Euphoria".

The lyrics have a goth feel in them, like ancient stories being narrated. The singer's voice is very similar to that of Ex-Nightwish vocalist Tarja Turunen. Good soprano and vibrato quality. "A Prophecy Of Worlds To Fall" starts off as an intro into a gothic adventure. The heavy nature of the guitars and the orchestra-like opening makes the comeback sound of Xandria like never before. "Valentine", the track for which the first video of this album was made, follows next with rapid guitar riffs and drumming. "Forevermore" is noteworthy for its melodious solo work....full text Xandria is a symphonic metal band from Germany formed by Marco Heubaum in 1997. There has been several line up changes especially at singer with previous vocalists including Lisa Middelhauve and Kerstin Bischof; the current vocalist is Manuela Kraller. The band released their first album in 2003 entitled ‘Kill The Sun’ with ‘Ravenheart’ and ‘India’ in the following two years. Their last record came out in 2007 entitled ‘Salome-The Seventh Veil’. Now in 2012, Xandria’s latest offering ‘Neverworld’s End’ is unleashed.

‘A Prophecy Of Worlds To Fall’ opens with a gothic choir that gives way to a massive chord progression. The whirlpool of sound eases in the verse as Kraller first appears with her gloriously operatic voice. She really turns it on for the chorus showing a wonderful array of power and pitch. ...full text There is just something about mixing classical music with metal, whether it is done in the soft, gothic style of Within Temptation or the screamy death metal of Fleshgod Apocalypse. Looking at the promo picture above, you can probably guess that Xandria are an example of the former. Following a five year gap since their last album and featuring a new vocalist, Neverworld’s End represents a fresh start for a band with an almost 15 year history.

From the very start Xandria demonstrate that their return has been long overdue: the symphonic elements are handled very nicely, and there is more than the occasional flash of flair in the guitarwork. New singer Manuela Kraller brings a more operatic tone than previous Xandria albums to proceedings, but she has an excellent voice and fits in well with the rest of the band....full text The album overflows with their unique blend of metal and symphonic sounds and is only enhanced by the operatic vocals of Kraller. Whether this is your usual style of music or not, you cannot deny how well constructed and precise the musical elements are on this album.

A heart pounding pace continues for a little over half of the album and then the mood suddenly shifts. The sounds of a symphony are replaced, without transition, with music that can only be described as resembling old Irish folk songs. The contrast of folksy upbeat traditional sounds and heavy metal guitar and drums fuse together in a way that most people couldn’t imagine would work as well as it does....full text