Neverworld's End

The first thing of note is that this album is very much NOT like Xandria's previous offerings. Many a reviewer will tell you that it is, but it is not. Older Xandria stuff was, indeed, created for a rather specific audience: gothic metal fans. This album is not like Xandria's older albums because this album lacks those gothic overtones that filled their previous offerings.

It could instead be argued that this album is more along the lines of symphonic metal. Gothic metal is known for being less ambitious in its use of symphony, and is often cheesy in its usage of such instruments. This album instead goes full-blast with the symphony, to the point that it sounds like Equilibrium with a female singer at the lead. Getting compared to Equilibrium is a good thing, mind you. In this album, Xandria focuses less on the guitar, bass, and drums in favor of the symphony. This was not true of their previous offerings. Although focusing less on the fundamental instruments of metal is an aspect one would naturally use to detract from an album's score, it works here because the symphonic work is borderline cinematic. A few songs stick to the old Xandria formula, namely "The Dream Is Still Alive" and "A Thousand Letters", but that's only 2 songs out of 12 (14 if you have the bonus tracks), and I doubt Xandria would fancy alienating their old fanbase.

As someone who does not care about lyrics and instead listens to music for music itself, I can still cringe at some terrible lyrics. But these lyrics, although still skewed toward themes Xandria has stuck with since its inception, do not make me cringe. This is not to say that the lyrics comprise deep, complex narratives that are a must-hear--again, they are still about love or deep inner feelings--but they aren't going to make you wish you never heard the album.

Now let's talk about the vocals. For those of you out of the loop, this album's vocals are not supplied by Lisa Middelhauve, the vocalist on all of Xandria's previous albums. In 2010, that vocalist left, and Xandria got another to tour with them. Then, even later, that vocalist left as well, and Xandria then picked up their current one, Manuela Kraller, who provided the vocals on this album.

Middelhauve's singing voice could be described as "angsty, breathy, and modern", a type of singing voice that is seemingly made for gothic metal, if the subgenre's MVPs are any indication. In contrast, I can only describe Kraller's singing voice as powerful, operatic, and downright beautiful. She has a wide range, being able to sing more mellow while also being capable of sounding as though she belongs to the opera as a lead character. In many songs, the band uses this to their advantage by layering together various tracks of Kraller's singing to produce the effect of a powerful operatic chorus. This is most notable in "Nomad's Crown", in which for much of the song, Kraller sings mellow... but then, towards the end of the song, we hear no less than five different operatic (I apologize for using that word so much) vocal tracks running simultaneously on top of the aforementioned symphony and the electric guitar plus the double-kick drums, and it absolutely blew me away. The vocals are unarguably the absolute strongest point of the album.

Another aspect I should mention is that the album doesn't quite remain purely symphonic for the entirety (the two aforementioned old-style Xandria songs notwithstanding); once you get past "Soulcrusher", many of the songs take on a more folksy vibe. "Call of the Wind", "Cursed", and parts of "Nomad's Crown", although remaining symphonic, incorporate several folk elements, mostly in the form of sound and riffs. The primary riff of "Cursed", for example, brings Vikings or Britons to mind, and if that doesn't indicate folk influence, I do not know what does. This is not a bad thing in the slightest; I actually quite appreciate it. It should just be noted in case any readers are particularly averse to folk metal or folk music.

All in all, this album is excellent, with wonderful symphony and breathtaking vocals. If you enjoy symphonic metal at all, or even just symphonic music, you should seriously consider picking this album up. Don't allow your past experience with Xandria to skew your decision.

Wow. I seriously have never heard a band nail the old Nightwish formula as hard as Xandria have here. I had never heard of this band before, but Neverworld’s End, their newest release, is a really good, energetic take on a style that mostly relegates itself to pop-friendly streamlined sounds (that’s not necessarily a bad thing either), and if you liked Nightwish back in the day, this is really about as good as that band ever was. I mean, they even have the required Nightwish-esque bout of filler in the middle of the album. That’s some admirable dedication!

OK, but really - this is an excellent album. Xandria’s formula is heavy guitars, airy symphonic sounding keys and the breathy, luscious vocals of frontwoman Manuella Kraller, who is as close to a legitimate clone of Tarja Turunen that you can get. The sound isn’t really original at all, but that’s not what Xandria is about. Some bands are good because they branch out from the established order and create exciting new sounds, and some are good because they take what already existed and refine it to a polished sheen, which is what Xandria is good at. Hell, the first time I heard lead single “Valentine,” I said “damn, did someone just take a time machine and drag 2003-era Nightwish out of the past and make them record a new album?” I mean it’s seriously that close. The chorus is unabashed Once worship, the production has the same sort of downtuned, gothy sort of timbre to it and the structure, while a little busier than Nightwish got, is propulsive and smooth just like their idols' best hit singles. The resemblance is uncanny. But it’s a great song, with a monster hook and some tight riffing in between the keyboard parts, and can stand up with the best Nightwish songs with ease.

The whole sound of this album is just incredibly professional. One thing I like about this is how heavy it is, and how the guitars are playing real riffs rather than just strumming big chords in the background. On songs like “Soulcrusher,” Xandria show they can rock with the best of them. The best songs on here are just impeccably good, with real drive and momentum and the entire band working together to create hooky, majestic songs that flow with a big, unified sound and atmosphere. The whole first half is just great, with the daring “Prophecy of Worlds to Fall” setting the stage with its mature songwriting and celeritous melodies, and then leading into great songs like “Valentine,” the breathtakingly gorgeous “Forevermore,” the catchy “Euphoria” and maybe the album’s best song in “Blood on My Hands,” which is a tune that Nightwish couldn't match if they tried, with an instantly memorable chorus and towering melodies that you will never forget. “Soulcrusher” is a bit of an anomaly, heavier and meaner, but it’s probably the second best on here, and “The Lost Elysion” is a clinic in power metal glory with its soaring vocals and speedy riffs – awesome.

After that the album takes a bit of a dip with some weak ballads and “Call of the Winds,” which is a Middle Eastern-sounding jingle that just doesn’t stick, but the album regains momentum with “Cursed,” which gets some heaviness going, and 9-minute closer “The Nomad’s Crown,” which is the most mature and musically advanced song here, with riffs that build on one another like a game of Jenga and melodies that unfold like a blooming lotus. It surprisingly never gets dull and ends the album with class and a more cerebral, introspective note than one would expect from a band like this.

If the whole album was on the same level of quality as “Forevermore” or “Blood on My Hands,” which are two of the best symphonic metal songs I’ve ever heard, we’d be talking modern classic, but as it is, Xandria has still put out a great album in a style that doesn’t seem to be quite as popular these days. Neverworld’s End has some serious chops and despite the fact that its whole sound is basically old Nightwish albums cobbled up in a blender, shows a band with potential exploding in spades. The next release from these guys will be the test – can they live up to the potential? I don’t know. But I’ll be rooting for them.

With the release of the last studio album, "Salome - The Seventh Veil", I believed Xandria was dead. So I didn't much care for the release of "Neverworld's End" when it was announced. I never even listened to the previous work of Manuela Kraller. It didn't interest me. Why wasting time on a band that got worse and worser over the years and wasn't even able to hold their singers? Not that that couldn't be said about a whole lot of other bands in metal, but that's another story.

It was more or less pure chance that I stumbled over the song "Soulcrusher". I accidently clicked on the false video in the related links of Youtube - and my jaw dropped open so wide it almost dislocated. What a voice! What a bombast! What a heaviness! My only thought at this moment was "For God's sake, is that really Xandria???" Then I picked up my jaw and gave the whole album a close listen, cause now I had hope that Xandria might rise like a phoenix from the ashes.

With "Neverworld's End", Xandria surely have musically skipped three or four grades. The production is as crystal-clear as Manuela's voice, which covers a great vocal range without breaking or ending up screaming (although I'm not sure if she can hold that level live; there are entirely other conditions live, with all the band around her, while in the studio her voice stands alone, and there's no audition which sings along and against which Manuela will have to sing).

About the composition, my euphoria receded fast. Surely it is bombastic and shows a certain musical sense, but most of the songs sound pretty much the same, at least for me. In many ways, the new Xandria reminds me of the genre colleagues of Coronatus. The same great orchestration, a high and strong opera voice, heavy guitars - and all-the-same song structures and vocal arrangements. I would even dare to say they sound pretty much like musical twins, what's somehow very sad because I had so high hopes Xandria finally found there own way in metal music and especially in Symphonic / Gothic Metal (I'm not completely sure what genre it exactly is; could be both, so I simply name it a mix of both). Seems like I was wrong about that one thing.

What I was not wrong about is the fact that Xandria have developed - only that I'm not even close to like it as much as I thought I would when I first heard "Soulcrusher". While listening to the full album, I even came to hate Manuela's voice. As good as it may be, it caused me headache after a while. It could have been put to way better use if the songwriters of the album (not sure if the whole band was involved in the songwriting process) would have been more experimental and used different vocal arrangements. Like it is, Manuela sounds like a cheap soundalike of Tarja Turunen, like the whole album sounds like Xandria had been scrabbeling in the closets of other Sympho Metal bands and putting them together to a chaotic potpourri. I think that a real shame, since Manuela has so much potential she wasn't able to use on "Neverworld's End".

All in all, "Neverworld's End" is a very disappointing album for me. My high hopes about it were destroyed nearly immediataly after I pressed the play-button, and the only thing left is the stale taste of the ashes Xandria sadly wasn't able to rise from.

Stuff like this, "opera metal" as I like to call it, has always been very hit or miss with me. Therion has released several fantastic albums, and I'm not afraid to admit to liking the occasional Epica or Nightwish album, but this German band Xandria really caught me by surprise recently with how incredibly enjoyable their take on the style is with their newest release titled Neverworld's End.

Xandria has been around for well over a decade now, and I'm sure I've seen their moniker before, but I had never given them a chance until recently. They have everything one would be expecting from the opera metal style. They have the gothic-looking female singer, they write slightly dark yet groovy mid-paced riffs, and they utilize dynamics in their music extremely well. What sets Neverworld's End apart from a lot of the other albums out there that are like it is just how simply enjoyable it is from the very first listen.

Honestly, if you like bombastic opera-infused metal, you don't even have to try to enjoy this album. Every song is wonderfully arranged and composed and the execution is perfect. Oh, and this Manuela Kraller can absolutely slay with her vocals. They are quite stunning, and you can really tell that she's done a lot of work to achieve her level of vocal control. Considering this is the first album to which she's contributed for Xandria, I can safely say the band found a winner, and I'll be wary of thinking about checking out the rest of the band's catalog since she's not there.

The songs themselves are each fantastic opuses in their own right, maintaining a flair for the dramatic without being overly long and drawn out, which can hinder a lot of bands who play this kind of stuff. Overall, I would easily recommend this album to anyone who enjoys the flair of bands like Nightwish, Therion, or Epica but also finds enjoyment in the straightforward simplicity of Lacuna Coil. This album is quite a pleasant surprise for 2012, and it's truly worth your hour and three minutes.

Written for http://raisethyhorns.blogspot.com

"Neverworld's End" is the latest album from Xandria, a band I feared was turning into the new Lacuna Coil. Their previous offering made me lose interest in the band, but I figured I would give their new album a listen. This sounds nothing at all like older Xandria and is probably their heaviest offering to date.

As we all know, Lisa is only a live vocalist now *insert sadness here*. I dare say this new vocalist is about ten times better than her. Kraller's vocals are exceptionally clear, especially when compared to other female metal vocalists, and her vocal range is quite impressive. She can switch between ranges and still be 100% clear. I feel this is what most metal bands lack at the moment. Ten points to Xandria for this.

The album, in a nutshell, is heavy, dramatic, and a whole lot of fun. I would say it's like Kamelot's "Ghost Opera" meets Nightwish's "Century Child", while still not straying away from their Celtic roots ("The Dream Is Alive", "Call of the Wind"). Tracks like the opener are exceptionally powerful and highlight the band's talent and Kraller's vocal ability.

I would recommend this to Nightwish, Kamelot, and Epica fans and the like. This album is definitely the one to beat this year for symphonic metal bands. Highlights: "A Prophecy of Worlds to Fall", "Euphoria", and "Blood on my Hands". However, the entire album is more or less grand and no track is weaker than the other. It is a very solid release from Xandria, and I am officially a fan.