Band:	Tarja
Album:	In The Raw
Style:	Symphonic metal
Release date:	August 30, 2019
Guest review by:	4look4rd

01. Dead Promises [feat. Björn "Speed" Strid]
02. Goodbye Stranger [feat. Cristina Scabbia]
03. Tears In Rain
04. Railroads
05. You And I
06. The Golden Chamber
    1 - Awaken
    2 - Loputon Yö
    3 - Alchemy
07. Spirits Of The Sea
08. Silent Masquerade [feat. Tommy Karevik]
09. Serene
10. Shadow Play

Tarja started her solo career with the impossible task of delivering a follow-up to multiple genre-defining albums with Nightwish. While My Winter Storm was a solid album in a vacuum, when you are Tarja fucking Turunen fans expect too much, and many lost interest after that release. Thankfully Tarja has found her place in heavy metal.

It is time to treat Tarja as a serious artist. Not as an afterthought, or grade her on a curve due to the importance of her previous releases, but as an artist capable of releasing songs as powerful as her voice. In The Raw is solid symphonic metal performed with excellent musicians and the trademark operatic vocals. The album nails the balance between guitars and symphonic arrangements.

In the mid-2000s symphonic metal skewed too much to the symphonic side, to the point that a lot of bands are sounding like cheap Hans Zimmer covers. In The Raw does have a fair share of orchestral arrangements, but they are in the background. Tarja's voice is the symphony, the orchestra is only a backup singer. The album does not stick to a formula, it keeps throwing new elements with each new song. I don't hear just Hans Zimmer, I hear glimpses of Enya, I hear arrangements straight out of Era, and excellent heavy metal.

If there is anything wrong with In The Raw it is the lack of hits or excellent songs. Everything is really good and polished (perhaps to a fault), but it is missing a killer song like "In For A Kill" or "Victims Of A Ritual" to just push the envelope of what you can expect from Tarja's solo band.

In The Raw is Tarja's best attempt so far. Excellent musicianship, solid songwriting, and a pragmatic but refreshing take on symphonic metal.