It’s been over 10 years since Tarja Turunen was sent packing from one of the world’s largest metal acts, Nightwish. It’s only natural that fans would bring up the issue and make comparisons to her former band, but Tarja has been striving to be a single entity over the last decade, and not one with a stigma attached. We look at the first part of her two part release, ‘The Brightest Void‘.
[tracklist]
01. No Bitter End [Video Clip version]
02. Your Heaven And Your Hell [feat. Michael Monroe]
03. Eagle Eye [feat Chad Smith]
04. An Empty Dream
05. Witch Hunt
06. Shameless
07. House of Wax
08. Goldfinger
09. Paradise (What About Us) [New Mix version] [feat.Within Temptation]
[/tracklist]
[details]
[record_label]EarMusic[/record_label]
[release_date]3rd June 2016[/release_date]
[/details]
Admittedly I have not given Tarja’s back catalogue much of a chance, but this is not because of that Nightwish / Tarja divide which I seriously believe everyone needs to get over – mainly because Tarja’s solo work in the past has strayed a little more to the classical side, and it simply didn’t interest me. Though now Tarja is being booked for some prime spots in metal festivals, it’s probably worth seeing what she is doing now.
It’s an instant surprise. Tarja wastes no time in delivering some heavy riffing to open the album in ‘No Bitter End‘ with a catchy pop-rock chorus that veers toward the metal more than ever before. It’s not just a track to catch a metal fan’s attention either. More of that heavy riffing and speed comes in with ‘Heaven or Hell‘ with Tarja’s signature operatic melodies providing atmospheric interludes.
While the metal is all there, it’s the seriously creative use of instruments that proves the focal point of the album. Uses of saxophone and harmonicas in the aforementioned track are simply fantastic, with diverse tempos and songwriting approaches being demonstrated in tracks like the Disturbed influenced ‘Eagle Eye‘ and the slow ‘Witch Hunt‘.
It does seem like Tarja’s lyrical themes are still bitter about her dismissal from Nightwish all those years ago, but knowing what her fans are like, it’s probably what they want to hear. Let’s just write that off, and admit that Tarja has produced a fantastic album here. It was a surprise in every aspect, and definitely would entice one into purchasing the second part of the release in August.
[verdict]Yes[/verdict]
[why]A surprise hit from Tarja. Excellent songwriting, heavy riffs and more importantly the creative use of non-metal instruments define a unique sound for the former Nightwish frontwoman.[/why]
