Band:	Midnattsol
Album:	The Metamorphosis Melody
Style:	Folk metal, Gothic metal
Release date:	April 22, 2011
A review by:	Ag Fox

01. Alv
02. The Metamorphosis Melody
03. Spellbound
04. The Tide
05. A Poet's Prayer
06. Forlorn
07. Kong Valemons Kamp
08. Goodbye
09. Forvandlingen
10. Motets Makt
11. My Re-Creation
12. A Predator´s Prey [limited edition bonus]

It has been well over a year since I last felt quite positive about a new female-fronted symphonic metal release. They all sound so samey and ordinary, y'know what I mean? Well, until this.

The Metamorphosis Melody doesn't break any moulds, nor do they just play their instruments "correctly", stick in a chick at vox and leave it at that. What sets this album apart is the songwriting. Whilst many albums in this crowded sub-genre tend to just have some melodic guitar leads every now and again to go with some semi-catchy choruses, what we have here is some solid riffing going on. The vocals don't dominate too much, but come out when they need to and gracefully let the heavy riffs (relatively speaking in this sub-genre) take centre stage. As far as melodic metal goes, I guess plenty would want to know how the vocalist sounds. Those not familiar with the band might want to take note that Carmen Elise Espenæs is the younger sister of Theatre Of Tragedy / Leaves Eye's Liv Kristine Espenæs, and I'd say she won't suffer from any comparisons. Imagine Liv Kritine's sweetness mixed with Tarja Turunen richness, then you'll have a rough idea of how Carmen sounds.

Calling Midnattsol smphonic is not exactly the most accurate as their tunes sound very folky despite the symphonic effects thrown in. Obviously that doesn't exactly make them sound any better than countless other female-fronted acts. As mentioned earlier, it's the whole riff + vocal package here that makes the album feel complete. One of the highlights of the album is definitely the limited edition bonus track when guitarist Daniel Droste contributes to all the vocals.

Guess what #1 He growls all the way through and "powerful" would be a suitable word to describe it.
Guess what #2 He plays in Funeral Doom band Ahab.
Guess what #3 This is my favourite track from the album.
Guess what # 4 He left the band before this album was released.

So I guess this facet of the band can't be further explored in future releases, which is a shame. Though for now, if you are a fan of female-fronted melodic metal, don't miss this and if you could get hold of the bonus track, it's definitely worth it!