Band:	Leaves' Eyes
Album:	Vinland Saga
Style:	Symphonic metal
Release date:	May 30, 2005
Guest review by:	Doc G.

01. Vinland Saga
02. Farewell Proud Men
03. Elegy
04. Solemn Sea
05. Leaves' Eyes
06. The Thorn
07. Misseri (Turn Green Meadows Into Grey)
08. Amhrán (Song Of The Winds)
09. New Found Land
10. Mourning Tree
11. Twilight Sun
12. Ankomst
13. Heal [Limited Edition Digipack bonus]
14. For Amelie [New version] [Limited Edition Digipack bonus]
+ Elegy (Video) [Limited Edition Digipack bonus]
+ Interview (Video) [Limited Edition Digipack bonus]
+ Making Of A Saga (Video) [Limited Edition Digipack bonus]

Lately developing a desire for some epic metal in my diet, I received multiple recommendations to check out this band that apparently balances a mix of clean female vocals with harsh growls over powerful orchestrations, how very disappointing this purchase was.

The opening track, a cool sounding build-up that seems to become a little drawn out before hitting the second track, which has the same problem as the album opener, cool sounding main riff, that becomes repetitive and drawn out....and then a third track, which follows the same formula again! At this point it seems one should abandon all hope and switch to a better album, when those harsh vocals finally come in, the sound is beautiful; a powerful orchestra, some peaceful operatic vocals mixed with crushing growls, why couldn't there be more of this? The rest of the album then falls into the previous pattern occasionally being saved by the contrast of harsh vocals, but for the most part its incredibly difficult to decipher each song from one another.

Okay, maybe this album wasn't entirely bad. The orchestrations can have a very powerful sound if played on a decent sound system, otherwise it grows stale by the fourth song. Every once in a while a cool guitar lead comes through, when not completely buried in production, like the solo in 'Farewell Proud Men', which sounds as if Slash himself could have been playing it.

Overall this album is pretty unnecessary in the grand scheme of the metal scene, there is very little originality in it, no new ground tread. I would only recommend this to people who are already very interested in epic symphonic metal, otherwise you are going to be just as bored as I was.