Customer Reviews

Legend Land

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The latest release by veteran metal act Leaves' Eyes is perfect for devoted fans of the band who loved its predecessor, Vinland Saga (if you have not listened to Leaves' Eyes before, I would recommend Lovelorn). The aptly called Legend Land uses imagery to convey a vast range of emotions. I gave this release 4 stars because it is a very lovely collection of music, albeit a short one. Ultimately, fans will not be disappointed. The title track is especially powerful.

I LOVE this cd. I am an "older guy" (60 yrs. old) and would never have believed that I'd purposely choose to listen to a type of music referred to as "Goth Metal." It sorta reminds me of some Enya/Opera Babes/Metallica/Creed mix (and I don't like Creed or Metallica), but ... I'll definitely make an exception on this one. Maybe it's the "Viking" aspect that I'm attracted to...

I never thought I would ever be disappointed in a Leaves' Eyes release but Hades has truly frozen over because I have finally heard a Leaves' Eyes cd that left me unimpressed. I recently acquired "Legend Land" yesterday when I went cd hunting. It hurts me to say this since I am a big Leaves' Eyes fan but "Legend Land" did not do squat for me. The music was nowhere as epic sounding or melodic as "Lovelorn" or "Vinland Saga". While I didn't mind Alexander Krull's vocals so much on "Vinland Saga", I absolutely hated his vocals on this 21 minute EP. His cookie monster on acid vocals was absolutely distracting. The one song that I did love on the whole EP was the title track. Liv Kristine sounded like an angel. Too bad I can't say the same about the other tunes which were lifeless and flat IMO. Hopefully this isn't what is to be expected for the band's next full length album.

Fans of Gothic Metal will love this - haunting lyrics in a Nightwish vein. Terrific!!

It seems like they put less effort in this CD than usual. Overall the album is heavier and more metal like than previously. In Vinland Saga for example you could tell the classical arrangements were written along side the metal playing, in this album it seems they just hammered out some metal songs then later added a few violens in the intro and in the background in a few parts and that's it.

Even though Legend Land is a good song to head bang to and I loved it, I grew tired of it very quickly unlike their previous works. The song "Skraelings" was listenable but disapointing, Vikings word had a good groove and lyrics and was ok, The crossing has become my favorite track with some nice melodic singing and I love when he yells "odin!" on the end of the song. Lyset was probably the only song on this album that showed progress, it was a well developed folkish instrumental song, similiar to the Ankomst song of Vinland saga, but rather short. The extended version of Legend Land is exactly the same recording as the first track but with an extra long violen intro at the begining.

Also noteworthy, overall the singing on this album is not as good as in previous albums. It seems like she sung all of this in one take or something. That combined with the lack of classical elements give it a standard metal feel. Rather than the usual mystical emotional feel of previous works. On the plus side if you want leaves eyes tracks you can headbang to, this is probably the best album for that.

Overall it shows that less effort was put in this work than in the previous ones. Though not as good as the other two albums, it is still worth buying and still has some good moments.

An affinity for Native American flavor in my symphonic metal led me to chose this album for the song Skraelings. After listening to the album extensively though, Viking's Word has become my new favorite. Alexander Krull's voice is a grating contrast in some of the songs (if you aren't a fan of his style), but Viking's Word would not be as good without him. Most of the album is symphonic/operatic in nature, with Lyset standing alone as decidedly folk. On the downside, the music and lyrics of The Crossing seem awkward, as if the song is forced and just doesn't flow together. I gave this album 4 stars because I like 4 of the 5 distinct songs on it. Admirable for an age where mainstream albums that cost upwards of $18 tend to have only 1 or 2 good songs on them.

this album is great. it basically starting where vinland saga left off, still around the viking theme. its great. i advise it is bought by all! liv kristine is a goddess so worship her!

This is a master accomplishment from a masterful singer. Highly recommended. The only reason I didn't give 5 stars is because Skraelings is so slow, while the rest really rock.

How quick a scene can be defined/cliched.

Ho-hum, the female fronted metal schtick - Nightwish, Evanescence, Sinergy et al. The canon has been set down and bands like Leaves Eyes are left to walk the defined path. You know a lot about how this sounds straight away - keyboard intros aplenty, a whimsical sounding lady vocalist (Liv Kristine) and tight modern riffing. And one look at the band pics on the leaflet is also illuminating. Hey can you guess which one of the guys provides the obligatory death/grunt vocals. As another reviewer termed it - cookie monster on acid vocals. Why o' why do these bands insist on having a male counterpoint singer that sound like this. Yes I know it's about as far from the females voice as possible but why not a real belter of a vocalist like Tobias Sammet or Chris Cornell or Edwin Balogh who did such sterling service on the Tamas Szekeres albums Dreamlake and Blue Syndicate?

And the ethereal, semi mythical material. It's popular to waffle on about Vikings in Scandinavia presumably but for release after release?

But there is good news here. Production values are good, the band tighter than the proverbial fishs' backside and Leaves Eyes do give good headbang for your buck, getting down in the trenches with some meaty metal especially on the two versions of the song Legend Land included here. For the uninitiated Live Kristines vox are closest to Sharon Den Adel of Within Temptation as she isn't as distinctive as Tarja Turunen (probably a good thing). She does have a stonger voice than Lunaticas' Andrea Datwyler but her voice isn't strong in the same vein as the frankly frightening Angela Gossow of Arch Enemy.

All up this EP is a good taste tester for the band, for which great things seem to beckon as I write. Well worth a listen.