Leaves' Eyes
Lovelorn

If recently the German band Leaves' Eyes have been trying to present themselves as a slightly less orchestral version of Nightwish's "Once" and slightly more metallic than the latest Within Temptation, in 2004, the year of their debut on Napalm Records with "Lovelorn," they were nothing more than a project set up by Liv Kristine (just thrown out of Theatre Of Tragedy with a message on the band's official website; a situation similar to the Tarja Turunen-Nightwish split, despite not enjoying the same media spotlight) and her husband (Alexander Krull, leader of Atrocity), offering a decent mix of compositions straddling melancholy pop and simplistic heavy metal.

Many have defined this project as a return to the gothic "beauty and the beast" sounds typical of the blonde singer's first band. In reality, there is very little gothic in this album. Slightly unsettling atmospheres are present only in "The dream" and "Temptation," songs that represent the darkest moments of the concept, which, as far as I've understood from reading the lyrics, is the story of an "underwater" love. A copy of Sirenia, then? Absolutely not.

Here, we are not faced with yet another musical stew similar to what is proposed by a thousand contemporary bands. The compositions are truly simple; both in the more pop moments and in the purely metal ones (the guitars are still heavy, much more than those of "The Silent Force" by Within Temptation, for example), we will never find technical virtuosity but only soothing and melancholy (but never sad or depressed) melodies as a backdrop to the superb vocal performance of Liv Kristine. The singer engages in chilling vocalizations; some may find her interpretation slightly boring, but the singing skills and great versatility she possesses are undeniable.

"Norwegian lovesong" has an autobiographical text, as it expresses the singer's love for her homeland and its beautiful landscapes. Musically it is halfway between pop and metal, just like the following "Tale of the sea maid." In the following and more rhythmic one, Krull's growl makes its appearance, truthfully not very good, to intersperse his wife's performance. "Lovelorn" is the least successful song of the lot: regardless of its purely pop essence, I find it static in its overly calm progression, and this time, Liv's tones are far too sugary. "The dream" is a beautiful duet between the two voices set in a gothic-dreamlike atmosphere. "Secret," introduced by soprano vocalizations that overshadow the musical clash between sublime orchestrations and rough guitars (a bit reminiscent of the best Nightwish), then evolves into a decent pop-metal episode. "For Amelie" is a beautiful piano ballad (within which we find a brief and perhaps a bit unnecessary guitar solo) that greatly reminds of the style of Kate Bush, particularly concerning the vocal parts. "Temptation" would not have looked out of place on a Cradle Of Filth album: the atmospheres are purely horrific, but tempo changes are absent, and, in the long run, the song can become boring due to the endlessly repeating chorus.

"Into your light," the band's first single, is instead a genuinely successful combination of orchestrations and metallic power and somewhat foreshadows the path to be taken with the subsequent "Vinland Saga," although in that work the purely pop aspect of Leaves' Eyes' music is entirely lacking. It is concluded with "Return to life" where sweet vocals stand out against guitar overlays, which partially detach from the previous episodes due to their newfound heaviness and the presence of a solo, this time partially fitting in the context.

Personally, I believe that this album rests on a level barely above sufficient, as the musical versatility demonstrated by Liv Kristine would undoubtedly have deserved more worthy compositions (even if a step forward has certainly been made compared to what Theatre Of Tragedy proposed with "Musique" and "Assembly"). With such simple songs, Leaves' Eyes risked losing credibility not only among fans who appreciated Liv's old works but also among symphonic metal enthusiasts, who will have found little sustenance in this "Lovelorn," and who, most likely in 2004, opted to dive headlong into After Forever, who, offering the same elements as the German band but elaborating them on the basis of impeccable work, managed to produce a technical and emotional masterpiece like "Invisible Circles."