Band:	Leaves' Eyes
Album:	The Last Viking
Style:	Symphonic metal
Release date:	October 2020

Disc I
01. Death Of A King
02. Chain Of The Golden Horn
03. Dark Love Empress
04. Serpents And Dragons
05. Black Butterfly [feat. Clémentine Delauney]
06. War Of Kings
07. For Victory
08. Two Kings One Realm
09. Flames In The Sky
10. Serkland
11. Varangians
12. Night Of The Ravens
13. The Last Viking
14. Break Into The Sky Of Aeon

Disc II
01. Death Of A King [instrumental version]
02. Chain Of The Golden Horn [instrumental version]
03. Dark Love Empress [instrumental version]
04. Serpents And Dragons [instrumental version]
05. Black Butterfly [instrumental version]
06. War Of Kings [instrumental version]
07. For Victory [instrumental version]
08. Two Kings One Realm [instrumental version]
09. Flames In The Sky [instrumental version]
10. Serkland [instrumental version]
11. Varangians [instrumental version]
12. Night Of The Ravens [instrumental version]
13. The Last Viking [instrumental version]
14. Break Into The Sky Of Aeon [instrumental version]

Life after Liv? The first album without her, 2018's Sign Of The Dragonhead, was honestly a bit underwhelming for me, but after hearing it live, some songs grew on me. Yes, Leaves' Eyes played it safe on this one which begged to wonder how The Last Viking would compare.

Production wise and musically their newest offering should have been THE album released after the Liv fiasco. It would have shown that the band didn't lose a step and Elina can hold her own; it seems that The Last Viking has been tailored more to her soprano vocal style. But hey, maybe there was some thought behind the madness since Leaves' Eyes came out swinging with their new release.

Once again a concept album, another Viking, Norway's King Harald III, the hard ruler - Hardrada, the last battle near Stamford Bridge, and here we go, supposedly the final Viking saga turned to music. It never gets old with the Viking stuff and apparently Leaves' Eyes did all kinds of research to be historically accurate with? full stop right here. While I do commend the band on doing their due diligence, I judge music on all kinds of things first before I ever consider the lyrical content. But with this being said, the atmosphere in the songs does paint a picture of what is happening.

The composition of the songs is superb, the tracks are varied and the constant speed changes set the mood and overall atmosphere of The Last Viking. The medieval drums and other instruments (celtic horn anyone) not just add to the listening experience but rather take it up a notch.

Again, while I wasn't sold on Elina's performance on their last album, she totally won me over this time around. I am also going as far as saying that Alex Krull's growls and harsh vocals were placed better on The Last Viking. Some vocal passages on the last album just fell out of place for some reason.

The Last Viking offers something for everyone. "Night Of The Ravens" with its catchy Visions Of Atlantis flair, "Dark Love Empress" emulating Tarja era Nightwish tunes, also "Black Butterfly" sounds strikingly like "Nemo", but folky tunes such as "Varangians" and "For Victory" are present as well.

I really dig "Break Into The Sky Of Aeon" which has an almost melo-death tone while still remaining the symphonic vibe; old school Leaves' Eyes right there. Another highlight is "Serpents And Dragons", a high tempo riff driven song which showcases the abilities of the two guitarists. But the most epic song on the album, not just because of its length (over 10min) is definitely the title song "The Last Viking". Yes, the word epic might be overused at times, but not in this case. The buildup is just fantastic and about halfway through the song all hell breaks loose.

People who might have written them off really should give the band another try, especially if a fan of old Nightwish or Van Giersbergen era Xandria. Yes, it's sometimes hard to come back after a major line-up change but I believe Leaves' Eyes did just that; took them 2 albums, but nevertheless. Classic Symphonic Metal is hopefully here to stay for the band.

On their website it states "Monumental. Epic. Powerful. - The Vikings' last battle" and the album captures this.