Customer Reviews

Salomé - The Seventh Veil

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2 star:		(1)
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I have been a fan of Xandria for some time now and have picked up each of their albums. Each one brought the same fantastic Xandria signature sound and style.

While I am not a huge fan of Techno, I am a lover of the Gothic rock and Metal sound. Xandria manages to to combine all three to create a great style. Many will try to compare this band to other female fronted bands such as Within Temptation, After Forever, Epica, Nightwish and even Evenesence, but Xandria is a bit more unique than those. The only thing that compares them to those other bands is the fact that Xandria is fronted female singer.

Lisa Middelhauve on this new album hits some notes in the lower range and this really sets her apart from all of the Operatic female singers like Simone Simones, and Tarja. While Lisa never does do the opera style vocals, she can hit higher notes. I find her voice to be soft when it needs to be and have enough power when needed. The other good point about Xandria is they pretty much avoid the growls or Cookie monster talk that bands like After Forever and Epica add in and ruin good songs with.

Marco Heubuam is a solid guitar player and while he does not have the blazing spead that some other guitar players have, I find him to be solid and not over the top with his playing. His style adds a great mix to a great band.

Macro and Lisa do the majority of the writing and between the pair, they write some very good songs. On this new album I really enjoy Sisters of the Night which has a very techno sound to it and Vampire which takes Lisa to a very low range while singing.

The rest of the band made up of Nils Middelhauve bass (Lisa's husband), Phillip Restemeier guitar, and Gerit Lamm drums,are all solid and fill the need of the band.

If your looking for a band that is a bit different than all the other female fronted bands, check out Xandria. if your into bands with great looking lead singers, then Xandria is also in your bag. If you want music that is fun yet rocks then Xandria is the answer.

I will add since I started to listen to Xandria 2 years ago, I have gotten many fellow musicians and friends into Xandria.

I read a review of this album in the classic rock magazine (along eyes of eden faith another band to check out)and i buy it from and import site and what a awesome cd! if you like within temtation,nightwish and a good female fronting band this is the one to go!!!!

While playing "Delain radio" on LastFM,I heard this band.
So, I looked then up and saw there top 4 releases. Previewed
the disc songs and then ordered them on Amazon. Another GREAT
find, Thanks Amazon

This album has one excellent symphonic metal song after another on it capped off with Sisters of the Light you will love it if you are a rock fan or symphony fan or just love great music! Buy it! You won't regret it.

I have enjoyed Xandria since their first major release, Kill the Sun, and I have found that they reliably produce quality albums. Salome is no exception. This album continues Xandria's tradition of fusing hard-edged guitar riffs with the melodic/symphonic touches that are not far removed from Within Temptation, Leaves Eyes, or Nightwish, but also maintain the accessible grasp such as Lacuna Coil and Elis. Moreover, the symphonic elements are more subtle than, say, Epica, but they do not stray into sugary pop-metal like Lullacry. Additionally, their music is often tinged with world-music sounds, that hearken images of the Middle and Far East.

Unlike other female-fronted bands (i.e. Epica and Leaves Eyes) there are no male death vocals/grunts. While some listeners may miss this contrast, I think it works well for Xandria and enhances their broad appeal.

But ok, let's talk about this album. The track listing (which at this time does not appear of Amazon's description) is as follows:

1. "Save My Life" -- 3:37
2. "Vampire" -- 4:31
3. "Beware" -- 3:21
4. "Emotional Man" -- 4:03
5. "Salomé" -- 6:11
6. "Only for the Stars in Your Eyes" -- 3:17
7. "Firestorm" -- 4:50
8. "A New Age" -- 3:37
9. "The Wind and the Ocean" -- 3:24
10. "Sisters of the Light" -- 3:37
11. "Sleeping Dogs Lie" -- 4:11
12. "On My Way" -- 3:51
13. "Sisters of the Light" - Remix

Many of these songs are immediately catchy, such as Vampire and Sisters of the Light. Others are slower-paced and almost somber, such as Salome. The album makes occasioned use of electronic beats and rhythms -- more so than in previous albums, but they are kept burbling in the background, and blend well with the Eastern themed music. See the ultra-catchy song "Sisters of the Light" for an example. Their step towards more electronica elements is also reflected in the bonus song (which depends on the album version you buy) which is track 13 - a club remix of Sisters of the Light. I like the album version of the song, but don't care much for the remix. I think remixes are a rather pointless edition to albums anyway, so maybe others will find it more attractive.

My only criticism would be that this album is not a dramatic advancement or evolution over the India or Ravenheart albums. I often think of a song and cannot remember which Xandria album it came from, as if the songs were all baked from the same recipe. However, I don't want this to sound too negative, as I immensely enjoy India and Ravenheart and so lack of evolution may not be such a bad thing. If you like oatmeal cookies, don't tinker with the recipe too much. Changing the recipe will eventually evolve the oatmeal cookie into something totally different. So here, Xandria reliably delivered what they have delivered before.

I would highly recommend this album if you are a fan of female-fronted rock or metal bands, or if you recognize and enjoy some of the bands I listed in my discussion of Xandria's style. Xandria will play well to fans of symphonic metal as well as fans of more mainstream rock styles.

My lukewarm reaction to this CD is due in part to my own expectations, so keep that in mind before you place too much weight on my opinions. First the good news: the singer does have a lovely voice. Now the bad news: the band does not have a lot of original ideas. Both the cover art and the things I had heard about this record made me expect a pretty authentic-sounding Middle Eastern flavored "world music" CD, or at least a reasonably interesting stab in that direction (A good example of this is some of Ofra Haza's recordings: they blend cultures in a very original way). But alas, none of that was to be found here. This is really a heavy rock band which has woven into the songs a few trite and stereotypical caricatures of what middle eastern music is. The ideas they come up with tend to fall into the bland and unimaginative category, though occasionally do border on embarrassing. So, if you want a heavy rock CD with melodies that are as uniquely Middle Eastern as the Mexican Hat Dance is to the Latin Music tradition, then have at it. For me, it was hackneyed and platitudinal.