At first blush, I was amazed at how well the band recreated the Tarja era Nightwish. The sound is huge, the choruses are strong, and the vocals of Kraller have that similar low powerful operatic tone which blends so perfectly with symphonic metal music. “Neverworld’s End” represents a major shift in the band’s sound, which in the first ten years was leaning closer to gothic metal with a touch of electro and a much calmer sweeter Schaphaus-Middelhauve at the helm. The only song that reminiscent of the Xandria of old is “Forevermore,” but even that fades after the first minute or so.
It is hard to listen to this release and fail to draw the obvious comparisons to Nightwish, especially since the style that once made Xandria a little more unique has now melted completely away in favor of a serious charge at the symphonic power metal crown. In fact, there are parts of this release that actually exceed the newer material of the Finnish masters. With “Neverworld’s End,” the band successfully counters “I Want My Tears Back” with its own bagpipe-laden, but less pop oriented, “Call of the Wind.” They also returned fire at the unnecessarily elongated “Song for Myself” with the slightly shorter epic “The Nomad’s Crown.” If you take tracks like “Blood On My Hands,” “The Lost Elysion,” and personal favorite “Soulcrusher” with Kraller and match them up with older Nightwish classics with Tarja, it would surely be….meeeeow…..a symphonic cat fight to the death!
“Salome – The Seventh Veil” was once considered the band’s finest album, but “Neverworld’s End” leaves it buried and lost. The musicianship has risen to new heights, the sound is crystal clear, and the song writing is rich and full. Even wit
Artist: Xandria Album: Neverworld's End [Limited Edition Digipak] Released: 2012 Genre: Symphonic Gothic Metal Size: 156 MB Total number of tracks: 13 Total length: 01:07:57 Bitrate: 320 kbps Type: mp3 / cbr Tracklist: 01: A Prophecy Of Worlds To Fall 02: Valentine 03: Forevermore 05: Euphoria 04: Blood On My Hands 06: Soulcrusher 07: The Dream Is Still Alive 08: The Lost Elysion 09: Call Of The Wind 10: A Thousand Letters 11: Cursed 12: The Nomad's Crown 13. When The Mirror Cracks (Bonus Track)
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