EDENBRIDGE — Sunrise in Eden (review)

EDENBRIDGE — Sunrise in Eden album cover

Album · 2000 · Power Metal

2/5 · 2022-08-20
lukretion

The second half of the 1990s saw the explosion of the female-fronted symphonic metal genre. Following in the footsteps of bands like The Gathering, Within Temptation, Theatre of Tragedy and Nightwish, dozens of new bands formed and released albums that merged traditional forms of metal, like death/doom or power metal, with symphonic elements and female vocals, often sung in an operatic style. Founded in 1998 by guitarist/keyboard player Lanvall, Austrian band Edenbridge are among the first-movers in the strain of symphonic metal that tends towards the power metal end of the spectrum. However, Edenbridge retain a certain dose of originality that, together with their class and talent, will eventually make them stand out among the myriad of bands that overcrowded this particular subgenre of metal.

Released in 2000, Sunrise in Eden is Edenbridge’s debut record. The album already clearly shows the potential of the Austrian band, albeit this potential is far from being realized on the 9 tracks included here. Edenbridge’s main strength lies in their ambition to merge different styles of heavy metal and hard rock into their sound. Power metal, hard rock, AOR, neoclassical metal, symphonic rock/metal, prog and folk are all influences that surface throughout the album, making for an interesting, varied and fairly original release. The merging of these multiple influences is not completely seamless yet, and the different styles rather emerge in separate songs through the album. This may give the impression that the record lacks somewhat in focus, although I am not too bothered by it.

What bothers me more is that Edenbridge’s chief songwriter Lanvall does not seem to have yet found the right formula to translate his ideas into fully accomplished musical pieces. The main weakness here is the lack of strong melodies that can give the songs a definite identity and make them memorable and interesting. Instead, the album flows away without leaving a strong impression on the listener. Repeated listens do not help much, either. Only a few songs eventually stand out for me: the lengthy, multi-faceted title-track, the softer “Wings of the Wind” and “Midnight at Noon”, with its fun injection of neoclassical power metal.

The latter song, however, also highlights what I think is another problem with this record: there is a disconnect between Lanvall’s music and Sabine Edelsbacher’s vocals. Sabine is an exceptional singer, with a full, richly melodious voice and a great range. Her voice and her poised, trained singing style remind me of musical vocalists, or even vocal pop singers from the 1950s. However, this vocal approach does not work well, for instance, in the context of ballsy power metal pieces, which would instead require a more aggressive vocal style. It also does not help that her voice is pushed very much up to the front of the mix, pretty much as in a musical. The problem is that the musical background is too busy and prominent compared to what you would normally find in musicals – and this leaves the impression that the voice and the other instruments are fighting with one another for space and attention.

This brings me to the other main issue I have with Sunrise in Eden: the production. As a mitigating factor, the budget for the album was low, but even so the album sounds pretty terrible. The guitar sound is particularly bad, not so much on the soloing/leads, but when it comes to the rhythm guitar parts that are tainted by a raw sound that does not suit the music at all. The mixing is also far from optimal. I mentioned the issue with Sabine’s vocals, but the keyboards also sound strange, as they continuously move back and forth in the mix in a distracting way.

Overall, Sunrise in Eden is a bit of a mixed bag. The ideas are there and Edenbridge show considerable potential, especially thanks to the eclectic songwriting style and the band members’ undeniable talent. However, this potential is not yet being fully used and brought to fruition. A lot of the music on this debut album is fairly forgettable and there are only a handful of tracks that really make my ears perk up. Edenbridge will massively improve over the course of the next albums, but for now they are more an unfulfilled promise than an accomplished reality.