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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good but lacking, April 7, 2008
The first album where twilight dwells showed a lot of promise and overall I liked it, but the song writing was weak in places. In places the singer sounded amazing and in other places badly out of tune, out of time etc. Yet I heard an inexperienced band that had a lot of potential and I liked the concept and style they had built so I awaited the second album. Here it is.
Overall this album is a bit weak, but shows more experience than the first album and overall a slight improvement in ability. Yet for a sophmore album it actually is rather good if that makes sense. Most bands aren't going to be putting out brilliant work on their first or second album. So this is definately a band to keep track of. When I reviewed the first album I said I heard a lot of potential, with this album still the key word is potential. Though the album is pretty enjoyable and has some good parts it also has some limitations. Mostly the band is alright, but the singing is not very good in places and other places is good. On the first album it was even worse. In this album they fixed it up a bit by adding special effects to the vocals in parts (think of ozzy- he can't sing very well but all the effects make his voice sound awsome). If this were a Celtic folk band or a punk rock band I would say the vocals are pretty good. Yet we are dealing with the Gothic metal/Symphonic metal genre in which the standards are a little higher. Compared to Nigthwish, Therion, Leaves Eyes the vocals just don't hold up. It's a good album to add to your collection, but I would spend my money on the top dogs in the genre like Therion or Leaves Eyes and only buy this afterwards.
The Concept for the band is brilliant and unique and I really like it though. Nobody else is doing it. While it is more or less Gothic/Symphonic metal they have their own unique twist with the folkish influence. I really like the deep dark tones on the guitar. But they don't have enough original melodies. Most of the melodies and guitar riffs are copied from folk songs or common Nordic metal riffs. There isn't enough original material and the band performs great, but the song writing is weak in places. The band really needs to improve its song writing and to improve the vocals a bit.
Overall though I liked it. In places its dark and Gothic sort of marylyn manson like. Other parts are very folksy like some things Leaves Eyes does. Some parts are rather heavy good headbanging stuff sort of Nightwish like. They tried to put in some symphony like parts at the end of konkylie sort of like Therion but it didn't sound too good because it was just a keyboard and not a real symphony. well it sounded allright.
If this band can improve its going to kick *ss. If it stays where its at then its sort of lukewarm so I'll be waiting to see what they come out with in future albums.
Open Your Eyes: Good song. But sounds like a typical Nightwish song or something. It's so typical that it is almost cliche'
Skogens Lengsil: the best song on the album in my opinion. Very Nordic sounding. I feel like I'm on a viking ship when I listen to this.
Northern Light: Has a Leaves Eyes feel to it. A good song but the singing is filled with so many effects and it lacks rythem making it feel weird.
Konkylie: a dark almost Gothic sounding ballad but with a unique lighter Midnattsol feel to it. At first I didn't think much of it, but it grows on you. The guitar riffs sound very good but I'm left thinking "where did I hear that before?"
Anyway that's all the songs I'm going to review. Overall I would recommend this album, but I wouldn't get as exited about it as a new release from one of the larger players in the industry.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent and haunting album, October 5, 2008
Recently having been introduced to "symphonic metal" through Nightwish, I have been looking for other such bands. Midnattsol was a name I found (classified as "symphonic/nordic folk metal"), and I am very happy I did! All of the songs have (in my opinion) a "haunting" and "enchanting" feel. Carmen Elise Espenæs, the female lead singer, has a clear and beautiful voice that complements the music, adding to the feel. Also, on the "Limited Edition" version of the album is the (one) bonus track "Octobre", a song written especially for Daniel Droste (previous guitarist of the "funeral doom metal" band AHAB), one of the guitarists. This is the only song on this album on which he sings, but it is well worth buying the "Limited Edition" version for this song as he also has a clear and complimentary voice that is more operatic, setting him apart from most other male vocalists in this genre.
So if you are looking for something "different" with beautiful vocals and an enchanting (but metal) feel, try out this album - you just might be happy you did!
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3.0 out of 5 stars
FOLK METAL LITE, June 27, 2008
MIDNATTSOL showed in their last album that they could occasionally crank out a really good song, so now with their follow-up album we'll see if they got better, worse, or stayed put.
Sadly, the album gets off on the wrong foot. The first song to grab my attention was "Konkylie", which is track 4. And even that song gets off to a slow start. The vocals are not very impressive, either, but there are a few simple but notable guitar sections.
You could call this Folk Metal but you'd have to keep the emphasis on Folk, as the songs are rather tame. Even their last album wasn't all that heavy.
"New Horizon" and "En Natt I Nord" are two other tracks to check out. The first is wonderfully peaceful and the second is closer to something you would have heard on their first album.
But to me, the biggest shocker is this: The best track on the whole album is the BONUS TRACK, "Octobre". Usually the Bonus Track is a mere after-thought, something the band whipped up at the last minute. Even more shocking are the male vocals (clear and almost Gregorian). That's right, Carmen does not sing on this one! It's even more heavy, putting the emphasis back on Metal.
When the best track is the last one AND a bonus track, you know there are problems. So while I rate this the same as their previous album, in reality it's closer to a 2.5. I wouldn't bother buying the whole album, but feel free to check out the previously mentioned tracks and get them as MP3s here on Amazon.
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is one of Midnattsol's 3 releases. Browse Midnattsol's Discography 
