Fairyland Score to a New Beginning
Napalm Records - NPR 273 - 4 May 2009
Score to a New Beginning is something of an interesting proposition to say the least because, having parted ways with the rest of Fairyland, Philippe Giordana has created an entire album using his own talents and a whole host of guest musicians. While line-up changes are nothing new for Fairyland, this album takes the concept of one man band to a whole new level...
Kicking off in suitably symphonic style with the imaginatively titled Opening Credits, influences are nailed to the mast (as it were) right from the off if Giordana doesnt own Cradle of Filths Cruelty and the Beast, then quite frankly Im the Queen of Sheba. Across The Endless Sea (Part II) continues in a similar vein and is mildly catchy in a somewhat fleeting manner, but is perhaps a touch longer than it really should be. Assault on the Shore starts off promisingly, but is strangely forgettable despite a lot of obvious effort to the contrary. The keyboard solos, it has to be said, dont help any and, again, its just slightly too long.
Master of the Waves, after a rather peculiar opening that isnt quite sure what its aiming to be, is nice enough but never quite gets anywhere, not helped along by vocals that leave a lot to be desired in places and guitar solos that add little to the overall effect. Fading out into A Soldiers Letter, a pleasant little folk-tinged interlude that, despite Napalms usual damned irritating voiceovers, is the first track on the album thats just about coherent, although the vocals could be considerably clearer. Godsent cranks the volume and speed back up, albeit with more weak vocals, bizarre effects and elements, and yet more voiceovers. One day Napalm will realise that the bad feeling created by pointless, annoying voiceovers costs them far more than music piracy ever will, but until then we have At The Gates of Morken which, lets be honest, sounds like something out of a Discworld novel. Unfortunately, it sounds almost as ridiculous as some of the more surreal parts of Discworld, and simply doesnt work on any level. Like most of the tracks before it, its also too long, and actually sounds better on fast-forward. Rise of the Giants is better, but rather pointless, and then we get to the title track which, overall, is what the rest of the album could so easily have sounded like with a bit more care. The vocals are still weak and the voiceovers are still making me want to throttle someone, but the overall effect is markedly better than anything achieved thus far. End Credits is strangely whimsical for a symphonic metal outro, with more female vocals that dont quite get it right, but Ive heard worse closing numbers in my time.
This was a weirdly difficult album to review; it kept fading into the background on me and it was very difficult to concentrate on for extended periods of time. Not because its a bad album, but because it very rarely captures the imagination. At no point did it make me sit up and go ooh, that sounds interesting!, and I cant help wondering if the lack of interest and coherence are down to the lack of a stable band behind it. Giordana is undoubtedly a talented composer, but he badly needs someone to rein him in and pull him up on the weaker technical aspects the vocals in particular are nowhere near the standard I would expect from a third album.
That said, if you want epic background music, by all means go ahead. Theres a lot of skill involved in this album, but that alone doesnt make a good album, or even an interesting one, it makes for an album that, if studied closely is impressive in some areas, but for the most part will just blend seamlessly into the background.
Official Fairyland Website
Official Fairyland MySpace
Official Napalm Records Website
Napalm Records - NPR 273 - 4 May 2009
Score to a New Beginning is something of an interesting proposition to say the least because, having parted ways with the rest of Fairyland, Philippe Giordana has created an entire album using his own talents and a whole host of guest musicians. While line-up changes are nothing new for Fairyland, this album takes the concept of one man band to a whole new level...
Kicking off in suitably symphonic style with the imaginatively titled Opening Credits, influences are nailed to the mast (as it were) right from the off if Giordana doesnt own Cradle of Filths Cruelty and the Beast, then quite frankly Im the Queen of Sheba. Across The Endless Sea (Part II) continues in a similar vein and is mildly catchy in a somewhat fleeting manner, but is perhaps a touch longer than it really should be. Assault on the Shore starts off promisingly, but is strangely forgettable despite a lot of obvious effort to the contrary. The keyboard solos, it has to be said, dont help any and, again, its just slightly too long.
Master of the Waves, after a rather peculiar opening that isnt quite sure what its aiming to be, is nice enough but never quite gets anywhere, not helped along by vocals that leave a lot to be desired in places and guitar solos that add little to the overall effect. Fading out into A Soldiers Letter, a pleasant little folk-tinged interlude that, despite Napalms usual damned irritating voiceovers, is the first track on the album thats just about coherent, although the vocals could be considerably clearer. Godsent cranks the volume and speed back up, albeit with more weak vocals, bizarre effects and elements, and yet more voiceovers. One day Napalm will realise that the bad feeling created by pointless, annoying voiceovers costs them far more than music piracy ever will, but until then we have At The Gates of Morken which, lets be honest, sounds like something out of a Discworld novel. Unfortunately, it sounds almost as ridiculous as some of the more surreal parts of Discworld, and simply doesnt work on any level. Like most of the tracks before it, its also too long, and actually sounds better on fast-forward. Rise of the Giants is better, but rather pointless, and then we get to the title track which, overall, is what the rest of the album could so easily have sounded like with a bit more care. The vocals are still weak and the voiceovers are still making me want to throttle someone, but the overall effect is markedly better than anything achieved thus far. End Credits is strangely whimsical for a symphonic metal outro, with more female vocals that dont quite get it right, but Ive heard worse closing numbers in my time.
This was a weirdly difficult album to review; it kept fading into the background on me and it was very difficult to concentrate on for extended periods of time. Not because its a bad album, but because it very rarely captures the imagination. At no point did it make me sit up and go ooh, that sounds interesting!, and I cant help wondering if the lack of interest and coherence are down to the lack of a stable band behind it. Giordana is undoubtedly a talented composer, but he badly needs someone to rein him in and pull him up on the weaker technical aspects the vocals in particular are nowhere near the standard I would expect from a third album.
That said, if you want epic background music, by all means go ahead. Theres a lot of skill involved in this album, but that alone doesnt make a good album, or even an interesting one, it makes for an album that, if studied closely is impressive in some areas, but for the most part will just blend seamlessly into the background.
Official Fairyland Website
Official Fairyland MySpace
Official Napalm Records Website
