Edenbridge reviewed
Edenbridge
Myearthdream
(Napalm)
Goofy heavy metal doesn’t bother us. It bugs a lot of headbangers, who somehow fail to see the humor imbedded in the DNA of the genre they worship, but not us. Austria’s Napalm Records understand, though, and in the last eight months have released some awesome, we’ll say “off-kilter” records, including Scottish pirate metal act Alestorm, Danish death folk metalers Svartsot, and Germanic mythology-loving Heidevolk. But this Edenbridge thing is even too much for us.
“Whale Rider” could be a Celine Dion song — plain and simple. That isn’t meant in condescending, too-cool-for-pop-schlock music-critic talk, either. It is actually Celine Dion-album worthy. Take that how you will. Elsewhere, the group simply beat the female-fronted symphonic metal dead horse. Nightwish at least had a somewhat original sound thanks to the trained opera vocals of Tarja Turunen. Then the group dumped her for another gal, effectively demoting themselves to the legion of wannabes they inspired — a legion Edenbridge is smack dab in the middle of. The four-piece load songs like “Shadowplay,” “Remember Me,” and “Place Of Higher Power” with as much ear candy as they have access to, including the entire Czech Film Orchestra, but still can’t come up with anything memorable, let alone original, on Myearthdream. At least the “You are listening to the new Edenbridge” voiceovers (used on promotional copies by some labels to fight piracy and annoy critics) in the middle of the songs add some spice.
– Trevor Fisher
Click here to download Edenbridge’s “Remember Me.”
