Well, here's the full length album from the band who play National Romantic Hulder Metal exclusively. There are 8 tracks on offer here, including 3 instrumentals, and the album lasts for over 42 minutes. However... if you've already bought their debut MCD, "Spellbound," you might jump with surprise when listening to this album... because 2 of the 3 songs on "Spellbound" are also on here, only re-done, and given Norweigian titles and lyrics. There are differences musically, but essentially they are the same songs as on the MCD. A fellow newsgroup participant told me in email that all 3 of the songs from the MCD were on the album... however I think it's just the first two MCD songs, "A Winter's Tale" and "Spellbound," which have been given the "new versions" treatment on "Soria Moria Slott." The front cover has a waterfall with a naked woman showering under it (superimposed), possibly either the band's female vocalist or female keyboard player. Both ladies are also pictured inside the inlay, (and they are certainly rather pleasing to the eye), along with the two male humans in the band (who aren't quite so pleasing to the eye).
The music is essentially in the same style as before, i.e. very melodic and relaxed sounding, like a more folky Dimmu Borgir. There are some nice acoustic guitar parts too, but when it comes to distorted metal guitars, they're barely even audible... the keyboards are far more prominent than the guitars in the mix. There's a bit of flute to be found here, too, which is a nice touch. The production, unfortunetly, is quite weak. There are fast bits, but it's only the drums which pitter patter quickly away whilst everything else stays at the same moderate tempo. So, it's definitly not an extreme or heavy album, although that's not necessarily a bad thing.
I'm still undecided about the female vocals on this album. They're still innocent and clear sounding, but they're often harmonically layered in a slightly weird way... kind of like the female vocals on the Fleurety CD, where two vocal lines are sung slightly out of time and seemingly a bit off-key. The vocals don't become irritating, luckily, because of the pure clarity of the woman's voice. It sounds a bit strange to begin with, though, especially if you're used to hearing the vocal style of "Spellbound."
Hmm... a little disappointing, I'm afraid, but still a pleasant enough listen. I really don't see the point in them redoing the songs from the MCD for "Soria," but there you go. Atmospheric, melodic, and all the other words which I flog to death each time I do a review of a black metal album of this nature... however, I can't decide whether I regard this as a worthy purchase or not, yet. I've only listened to it twice so far, though. If you haven't bought "Spellbound," then either buy "Spellbound" but don't buy "Soria," or buy "Soria" and don't buy "Spellbound!" Otherwise you may feel a bit cheated. I think I still prefer "Spellbound," since I prefer the sound on it. And, to be honest, all 3 of the "Spellbound" songs are good, whereas some of the songs on "Soria" don't seem quite up to scratch. Oh well.
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