Search - Amberian Dawn :: River of Tuoni

Best in its Genre

metalman | anywhere | 04/10/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'm a musician and a pretty big fan of symphonic/gothic/power metal, and I have to say that both this album and this band are among the best in these genres. The musicianship is fantastic, the production is spot on and huge-sounding, and the vocals are beyond superb.



Pros:



1) No over-reliance on keyboards, ochestral elements, etc. I'm fan of these, but Amberian Dawn rocks with straight-up guitar and drumming. Great technical elements while retaining listenability and not getting too far into 'look what I can play-ism.' The keyboards, however, do rock, and are tastefully woven in, especially when they're up-front.



2) Strong songwriting; amazing riffs on this album. Very catchy, without being cliched. These people know how to write.



3) HEAVY: there are some HEAVY passages and riffs on this album, which is great, because it lends texture, complexity, interest, and - well - ROCKING-NESS to a genre that strives for but often lacks all three.



4) The singer can SING. I mean, DAMN can she sing!! There are too many female-fronted symphonic metal bands with weak female singers who are up front because they're nice to look at. This singer, however, has a beautiful and unique voice. And, apparently, she's a great lyricist - which makes her that much more awesome. Great voice AND creative muscle? Oh, we like that here.



In my not-so-humble-opinion, his album WIPES OUT most everything this genre has put out in the past year or so. Once again, the Finns score huge points in symphonic metal. I think it's in the blood over there. Perhaps it's their epic tradition. If these guys don't play the States in the next year, I'm going to have to go over there."

This is just really, really good!

Zephyr | 05/07/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I am unsure as to how I found this band, but I think I accidentally stumbled upon it on Amazon through the recommendations page when looking for one of Epica's albums. I decided I had to hear them after the person's review on here, because it just seemed too good to pass up. At first listen the first thing I noticed was the AMAZING guitars and solos. I mean they were just so powerful! I almost felt the same thing as well, that the guitars almost overpower Heidi's voice. Then I just uploaded to my Ipod and took a few more listens, and realized this is one masterpiece. Their "Valkyries" song blew me away and I can't stop listening to it. "My Only Star" is one of the best slow songs I have heard from any symphonic metal band! The lyrics are amazingly deep. I looked them up and just said wow, I almost felt it was like reading a story just glancing at their lyrics. Where else can you find a band where the lead singer actually writes the lyrics? That's pretty rare. For anyone wondering, Heidi sounds a lot like Tarja, just minus the bad accent, and of course even better.Even if you didn't like Tarja in Nightwish, this is still worth a listen because no band can ever be compared side by side to another one. I just chose this as a reference. I am also excited to hear that they are coming out with a new CD very soon, which is available for purchase as an MP3 album on their website."

Great album

Erskine | Seattle, WA | 06/10/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I listened to this album so much!!! It's a great album: songwriting, riffs, vocals. Heidi does have a trill at the end of some of her passages, but, other than that, a great vocalist. This band will be exciting to watch in the years to come. I am also excited for the second album..."