XANDRIA — Sacrificium (review)

XANDRIA — Sacrificium album cover Album · 2014 · Power Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4.5/5 ·
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Sacrificium (2014) is the sixth full-length album by German symphonic metal act Xandria. It features the debut performance of new vocalist Dianne van Giersbergen (Ex Libris), who takes over from Manuela Kraller after just one album, Neverworld's End (2012), making Sacrificium the third album in a row for Xandria to feature a different vocalist. The band also has a new bassist in Steven Wussow (Domain), who replaces the longer standing Nils Middelhauve.

Despite the change in vocalist, it's sometimes difficult to tell that this isn't the same line-up who recorded Neverworld's End. Sacrificium is most certainly a more of the same release following the slight reinvention from symphonic gothic metal to symphonic power metal that Neverworld's End was and Dianne van Giersbergen is certainly pretty close to Manuela Kraller in terms of vocal ability and singing style on the album. None of this is a surprise to me as I do seem to recall reading a quote somewhere in the run up to the album's release that Sacrificium would bring more of what everyone loved about Neverworld's End and that is exactly the end result of the album, although it is perhaps because of this that it has something of a lesser impact than its predecessor had on me.

For those who haven't heard Neverworld's End, it had a sound that was somewhat comparable to Nightwish circa Oceanborn (1998), that is to say a symphonic power metal sound which also drew on some folk elements. As a minor detail I'd say that the presence of folk is very slightly increased on Sacrificium compared to Neverworld's End with songs like The Undiscovered Land, Until the End and Temple of Hate, which is definitely more than Nightwish had on the aforementioned album, and it remains a defining feature that sets what the two bands did/do apart. But in short, if you've been at all dissatisfied with what Nightwish have done in recent years in 2012 Xandria showed themselves as an act ready to step up and usurp their crown. I honestly think they did it back then with that album, as Neverworld's End is a masterpiece to my ears, but with Sacrificium the band have produced a worthy follow-up.

The bottom line is though that Sacrificium isn't a second masterpiece for Xandria. It's a high quality symphonic power metal album but where Neverworld's End never veered away from perfection Sacrificium only hits that mark with certain tracks such as Nightfall, Betrayer, Little Red Relish and the epic ballad The Undiscovered Land. It also has a couple of lesser songs in Dreamkeeper and Come With Me. Still, the quality is high enough that a 4.5 star rating is deserved. It's a step down sure, but anyone who enjoyed Neverworld's End is sure to enjoy what Sacrificium has to offer too.

93/100

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven: http://metaltube.freeforums.org/xandria-sacrificium-t3447.html)
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