{"id":56584,"date":"2018-01-05T20:44:06","date_gmt":"2018-01-06T01:44:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=56584"},"modified":"2018-01-05T20:44:06","modified_gmt":"2018-01-06T01:44:06","slug":"leaves-eyes-sign-of-the-dragonhead-music-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2018\/leaves-eyes-sign-of-the-dragonhead-music-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Leaves’ Eyes | Sign of the Dragonhead"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Joe Mis<\/span>
\n— Sr. Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"The Vikings are on the march again! Scandinavian Symphonic Metal masters Leaves’ Eyes have retooled and are taking no prisoners with their latest epic entitled Sign of the Dragonhead<\/em>. Keeping the same intensity that the band brought forth in 2016’s King of Kings, Leaves’ Eyes cranks it up and delivers another true symphonic metal hammer blow along with all the thunder and lighting that Leaves’ Eyes fans have come to expect.<\/p>\n

The major change for Leaves’ Eyes over the past two years has been the departure of founding lead vocalist Liv Kristine. Now fronted by the operatic Elina Siirala of EnkElination and by founding member Alexander Krull, Leaves’ Eyes continues to work their trademarked \u201cbeauty and the beast\u201d vocal lines. They once again take much of their inspiration from the history, mythology, and legends of the Scandinavian people. Continuing with the band are Thorsten Bauer (guitars and bass), Pete Streit (guitar), and Joris Nijenhuis (drums). There are some noticeable differences between the old and new vocalists \u2013 Elina has a more powerful voice that many will feel is better suited to the powerful and martial tone of the new release but lacks some of the subtlety and delicate emotional nuances that Liv brought to the softer tracks. Another notable difference is the fact that all tracks on Sign of the Dragonhead are sung in English \u2013 some may miss Liv’s inclusion of a tune or two in Norwegian, Finnish, or even Old English.<\/p>\n

The impressive \u201cSign Of The Dragonhead\u201d kicks off the release an leaves little doubt that the personnel changes within the band have not diminished their intensity and passion. This track encompasses all of what makes Leaves’ Eyes unique \u2013 an epic, almost over-the-top symphonic tone, elements of hard rock, many classical influences, massive choral vocals, strong production values, and amazing vocals. The rollicking \u201cAcross The Sea\u201d is a powerful track with a very catchy rhythm line (and a short but sweet guitar break) that highlights Elina’s overall vocal abilities while giving Alexander a chance to growl as he does best. \u201cLike A Mountain\u201d is a softer and more flowing track that pushes Elina’s range to its limits \u2013 and she handles everything well, working well with the veteran bass\/guitar\/drum trio of Bauer, Streit, and Nijenhuis. Elina’s vocals are at their best when she digs deep and joins the band in paying tribute to their Viking heritage in the epic \u201cJomsborg.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cV\u00f6lva\u201d rolls in some older musical instruments \u2013 whistles and pies are a long time Leaves’ Eyes tradition \u2013 and features some of the best guitar breaks on the release. Alexander’s backing vocals are particularly effective on this track. Celtic influences fill the bouncy \u201cRiders On The Wind\u201d and the moody opening of the ballad \u201cFairer Than The Sun.\u201d \u201cShadows In The Night\u201d is a multi-tempo masterpiece \u2013 one of the most familiar sounding tracks that build on all of the strengths of Leaves’ Eyes from vocals to songwriting to technical performance. <\/p>\n

The instrumental \u201cRulers Of The Wind And Waves\u201d brings in many of the old acoustic pipes and horns that make Leaves’ Eyes special, while setting a solid mood for the hyper-theatrical, gritty and smoldering \u201cFires In The North.\u201d The appropriately fluid and flowing \u201cWaves of Euphoria\u201d wraps the release. Moving from solemn and soft to pounding and majestic, this eight-minute epic IS Leaves’ Eyes at its best. Strong male and female vocals, gritty guitars, manic drums, booming bass, varying tempos, and tones… wow!<\/p>\n

Leaves\u2019 Eyes Sign of the Dragonhead<\/em> is a fine addition to the band’s discography. Despite the loss of a very talented founding member, the band managed to step it up and evolve, choosing a singer that fully fits the band’s style without sounding like a copycat vocalist. Well executed and delivered with passion and fire on all fronts, Leaves’ Eyes demonstrates why they are the poster child for symphonic metal. Jubel!<\/p>\n

Genre: Symphonic Metal<\/p>\n

Band:
\nElina Siirala – lead vocals
\nAlexander Krull \u2013 keyboards, vocals
\nThorsten Bauer \u2013 guitars, bass
\nJoris Nijenhuis \u2013 drums
\nPete Streit \u2013 guitars<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n1.\tSign Of The Dragonhead
\n2.\tAcross The Sea
\n3.\tLike A Mountain
\n4.\tJomsborg
\n5.\tV\u00f6lva
\n6.\tRiders On The Wind
\n7.\tFairer Than The Sun
\n8.\tShadows In The Night
\n9.\tRulers Of The Wind And Waves
\n10.\tFires In The North
\n11.\tWaves Of Euphoria<\/p>\n

Label: AFM Records<\/p>\n

Website: http:\/\/www.leaveseyes.de<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: [usr 8 size=20]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Joe Mis — Sr. Columnist — The Vikings are on the march again! Scandinavian Symphonic Metal masters Leaves’ Eyes have retooled and are taking no prisoners with their latest epic entitled Sign of the […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":56586,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15129],"tags":[8645,13926,14114,2269,2368,334,13925,1100],"class_list":{"0":"post-56584","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2018","8":"tag-afm-records","9":"tag-elina-siirala","10":"tag-enkelination","11":"tag-leaves-eyes","12":"tag-music","13":"tag-review","14":"tag-sign-of-the-dragonhead","15":"tag-symphonic-metal"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56584"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56584\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}