Xandria – Neverworld’s End (2012)

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Many people (including us) thought that Xandria was finished when their iconic vocalist Lisa Schaphaus-Middelhauve left the band back in 2009, but with their latest album “Neverworld’s End” the band sounds better than ever and are turning heads and convincing non-believer. Taking on a more bombastic sound, the band fully uses Manuela Kraller soprano vocals to song like a real Gothic/Symphonic Metal band should and blow listeners away with a very rich and diverse sound.

One thing that came immediately to us after the first few spins of this release is that “Neverworld’s End” actually sounds a lot like early Nightwish when Tarja was in charge of the vocals. Before all haters go and complain about this we must say that while playing similar music, Xandria feels very refreshing since most of the good Gothic/Symphonic bands are not trying to sound pop-ish and commercial friendly. This leaves the field completely open to bands that stick to was good a few years ago and still manage to sound Metal enough.

Opening with the very exciting “A Prophecy of Worlds to Fall”, the band delivers high-intensity and bombastic music that make you wonder if this is really Xandria. The track kicks off a very well-crafted release, that while not original, feels very fresh and exciting to listen to. The album’s first single “Valentine” delivers a very traditional Nightwish sound with the epic orchestral arrangements, intense vocals and traditional guitar riffs. Around the 3-minute mark you will immediately notice the Nightwish-esque song structure, but it is excellent and very entertaining.

“Forevermore”, “Euphoria” and “Blood on My Hands” keep delivering very entertaining and well-crafted songs that give the feeling that the band is actually having fun creating such diverse and appealing tracks. With Lisa, the band sounded a bit confined to the themes of each album and fitting her voice with the music, and now that Manuela has a more diverse voice with a higher range the band can really go for big epic sounds and more grandiose sounding compositions. Our favorite track of this album is the ballad “The Dream is Still Alive”, a track that sounds like “Ever Dream” from Nightwish but with the new Xandria edge.

Our second favorite track of this excellent release is the folkish/bombastic epic called “Call of the Wind”. The band is really explosive in this release and the choir sections are majestic. Every song is this album is truly epic and the band nicely closes this release with the very mysterious and ethnic sounding “The Nomad’s Crown”, a song that could have easily been taken from the “India” album.

Overall, “Neverworld’s End” is an EXCELLENT release; the band is full of energy and shows great musical intentions. While not the most original release, this album is very well made and extremely bombastic. Many of the now Gothic-pop ‘metal’ bands should be ashamed that they can’t make something half as good as “Neverworld’s End”. We wish the band the best of luck in promoting this release and we hope to see them on the road in North America soon.

Band: Xandria Album: Neverworld’s End
Label: Napalm Records

Release: February 22nd, 2012 (Europe) / March 6th, 2012 (USA)

Oficial Site myspace
Genre: Gothic/Symphonic Metal

Country: Germany

Rating: 91/100
Year: 

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