Edenbridge – Solitaire (2010)

Out of the very impressive roster of bands over at Napalm Records, Edenbridge has always been one of the most consistent bands they have. Over the years they have released very solid albums, that feature well crafted songs and a very characteristic sound given by Sabine Edelsbacher the bands vocalist, and Lanvall’s music composition skills.

The band’s bombastic sound is present in every single one of their releases and “Solitaire” is not an exception. The band’s Symphonic Power Metal sound is very well crafted around Sabine’s vocals, and the use of catchy melodies, as opposed to using overly complicated structures in their songs.

With Lanvall behind the guitars and the keyboard, the band’s sound is as epic and symphonic as always. The riffing is powerful and straight forward, but in songs like “Out of this World” we get brilliant solos that add greatly to the music. There is enough variety in this album to keep the listener engaged with powerful straight forward Heavy/Power Metal songs and breathtaking power ballads.

The overall feeling of “Solitaire” is a bit less overwhelming than previous releases, this allows the ‘Metal’ aspect of the release to shine, and it feels more accessible than some of their more ambitious releases. Something that we did noticed when we say the band live at WGT 2009, is that a lot of the magic behind the music does not translate completely live, since they use WAY too many samples and they sound less impressive than on their albums.

A small issue that we have this Edenbridge is that they ALWAYS sound the same. Yes, it’s the characteristic sound, but sometimes it’s hard to differentiate their songs from their previous albums. “Solitaire” is a bit better than their older releases and sounds somewhat different, but sometimes the band falls back into sounding like older songs.

In general, “Solitaire” is a very decent Symphonic Power Metal that will have all of the band’s fans pleased for years to come. If you are thinking of getting into the band, this album will be as good as any other to give them a shot.

Release: July 13th, 2010

Country: Austria