Leaves' Eyes
Legend Land

Summer 2006: just a year after the release of "Vinland saga," a well-crafted album but sometimes excessively cold, Leaves' Eyes return with an EP lasting just over twenty minutes. The title and cover immediately hint at a clear continuation of the themes addressed in the previous release's lyrical concept. In fact, "Legend land" is nothing other than the continuation of the saga of the Norwegian hero Leif Eriksson, who, according to Viking history, was supposedly the first true discoverer of America, in the times of historical upheavals around the year 1000. A researched and documented reconstruction of the past, around which the most famous singer in European gothic metal (thanks to her time in a historic band of the genre, Theatre Of Tragedy) spun a tearful love story between a Viking couple. The story is filled with verses laden with worry for him who travels the distant seas, promises of eternal love transcending earthly distance, and solitary walks among the forests and snowy fjords of ever-beautiful Norway in search of consolation.
It's a pity that what could have been a fascinating concept, halfway between the romantic literature so popular among the Western female population in recent decades and fragments of medieval history, consists of essentially sterile musical structures, constant from one track to the next, and also a bit cold. Just consider the title track (offered here in two versions, of which the extended one, full of symphonic parts, is certainly more interesting) that does nothing but repetitively bore with time-tested yet poorly structured symphonic segments over which Liv Kristine's ever-soaring vocals and her husband Alexander Krull's poor growl countermelody spread like oil stains, tarnishing it all with grating guitars that at times border on death metal (accompanied by an almost inaudible bass and a monotone drumbeat that paradoxically manages to be less expressive than a drum machine) to give the whole a false metallic touch. Things go slightly better with "Skraelings", thanks to a greater vocal dynamism, but the musical section remains among the flattest and most predictable ever heard by my ears (pointless to include an ethnic interlude reminiscent of a tribal ceremony). "Viking's word" is decidedly more pleasant as it is graced by soft violin backgrounds and melancholic piano arabesques, as well as a magnificent vocal contrast that unexpectedly imbues Leaves' Eyes' music with an overwhelming pathos that reminded me of the golden days of gothic metal. Even "The crossing" is more engaging compared to the album's standards thanks to the particular dynamism of the guitars, the pleasant symphonic effects, the deeper growl and a chorus that has a certain folk flavor. "Lyset" is a more than satisfactory atmospheric interlude that vaguely recalls some tracks from the old album like "Amhran (Song of the winds)" and "Ankomst".
If these last tracks’ elements will be the ones on which the band begins to lay out and develop ideas for a future release, I already feel a bit of anticipation, similar to what I felt a few weeks before the release of "Vinland saga". For now, there are the premises to produce a new and enjoyable work; however, the quality and inspiration necessary to produce masterpieces have been lacking for some time. Who knows where Leaves' Eyes will head next and if, after the release of excellent works like those by After Forever and Within Temptation, they will be able to surpass themselves and the competition. Frankly, I have serious doubts and must indeed admit that it is a real shame to see one of the most beautiful voices in the scene practically appear everywhere in today's musical landscape but still not having found a dimension that best enhances it.