[Review] Leaves' Eyes - Halvdan The Black

Leaves' Eyes have been a power house on the global symphonic metal scene for more than a decade now. The majority of their discography takes its influence - at  least lyrically - from the old stories and history of the Nordic nations, with Symphonies of the Night being an exception to that. To any Leaves' Eyes fan, it will come at no surprise that King of Kings is based around the history of Harald Fairhair, the first King of Norway, though my thoughts on the album will be reserved for another day. For now, I'm focusing on the band's latest single from the album, Halvdan The Black - who is best known as the father of the good king Harald Fairhair.

The song begins with the haunting sound of ritualistic tribal drums and chanting before the two shieldwalls of metal instrumentation and choir vocals clash on the proverbial battleground. Liv's vocals soar majestically throughout the song, like valkyries riding towards Valhalla whilst Alex's voice provides that thunderous savagery one would imagine a Norseman's voice to be like when screaming awe-inspiring battle cries. The guitar passages are memorable and lay down the backbone of this song alongside the drums. The orchestration and choirs weave a cold atmosphere of northern tragedy into the song, adding emphasis to the emotions in the music and Liv's voice.

From the sounds of this one track, Leaves' Eyes are still travelling forth with their new sound but are conjuring up spirits of their old sound in their everlasting journey to new musical horizons. Hopefully the album lives upto the expectations that have been made by this one single.

Leaves' Eyes online:
http://leaveseyes.de
http://facebook.com/leaveseyesofficial