Edenbridge - Shangri-La (2022)

If 2022 wasn’t already a great year in terms of Symphonic Metal releases, Edenbridge returns with another brilliant album titled “Shangri-La”. Featuring their signature high-octane and cinematic sound, Lanvall and company deliver nearly one hour of extremely well crafted immersive music. With each release being a journey on its own, this album perfectly blends Power Metal with lush symphonic arrangements, crafty story telling, and killer vocal arrangements.

Leading with the explosive “At First Light”, the band sets in motion an elegant musical journey, while paying equal attention to both the Symphonic and Metal side of things. We have always been quite impressed with Lanvall’s engaging compositions, and how they are brought to life by band members: Sabine Edelsbacher on vocals, Dominik Sebastian on guitars, Johannes Jungreithmeier on drums, and Steven Hall. Songs are dynamic, explosive and quite engaging as we can hear from “The Call of Eden”, “Hall of Shame”, and the melodramatic “Savage Land”.

Our favorite track has to be the bombastic “Freedom is a Roof Made of Stars” and its superb vocal arrangements paired with straight-forward crafty riffs, sweeping guitar leads and engaging tempo changes. Songs like “The Road to Shangri-La” are the perfect example of what keeps the band apart from all others that over rely on synths and arrangements, while not being able to write hard-rocking Metal foundations to their songs.

Closing with the expansive and all-encompassing “The Bonding (Pt. 2)”, the band cranks out 16 minutes of highly cinematic music that is filled with a bit of everything. Overall, “Shangri-La” shows the band further elevating their status as one fo the premier Symphonic Power Metal bands thanks to brilliant songwriting and killer execution. If you like the genre, but never heard of Edenbridge, you need to get this release ASAP.

Label: AFM Records

Release: September 16th, 2022

Genre: Symphonic Power Metal

Country: Austria