Xandria look to fill the release gap with a new EP, ‘Fire & Ashes‘, with an interesting mix of new tracks, covers and re-recordings…
[tracklist]
01. Voyage Of The Fallen
02. Unembraced
03. In Remembrance
04. I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That) [Meatloaf cover]
05. Ravenheart
06. Now & Forever
07. Don’t Say A Word [Sonata Arctica cover]
[/tracklist]
[details]
[length]35:00[/length]
[record_label]Napalm Records[/record_label]
[release_date]24th July 2015[/release_date]
[/details]
Xandria have been around certainly longer than most people expect them to have, and have slowly but surely been rising up the symphonic metal chain. The significant difference with Xandria this time is the look on to the progress of vocalist Dianne van Giersbergen who joined the band in 2013 and released one album with Xandria. The band have decided to fill the gap in the touring cycle of their previous effort ‘Sacrificium‘ with an EP of 3 new songs, 2 re-recordings and 2 cover songs. Let’s see how ‘Fire & Ashes‘ weighs up against Xandria’s discography.
The impact of the bombastic opening track ‘Voyage of the Fallen‘ provides two key points that serve as the nodes of critique for the EP. One that vocalist Dianne van Giersbergen has fit into Xandria flawlessly, and while her vocal performance on ‘Sacrificium‘ was excellent, on this EP it is outstanding. The second point being that the new tracks contributed to the EP sound like complete replicas of Epica. It is easy to say that is just a generalisation with female-fronted symphonic metal, but the similarities are so prominent that even the most refined of metal fan would think they were listening to Epica if they didn’t know the details of the band beforehand.
This is not necessarily a bad thing for a symphonic metal fan looking to fill a gap between releases of their favourite bands – the original songs on ‘Fire & Ashes‘ are well-written and well produced, but the original touch of Xandria that provided the flair of ‘Sacrificium‘ seems to have flown out the window. While that, from our perspective, is a downpoint on the EP, the second half of the EP is what provides it’s credibility.
The cover version of Meat Loaf’s classic ‘I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That)‘ is magnificent, being the best cover of the song I have ever heard by a long shot. Arguably the EP is worth getting alone for this, featuring excellent arranging, passionate vocal performances and the incorporation of some fierce drum work. It shows that Xandria have that ability to take something and make it their own showing that their muscianship is still alive, just somehow lacklustre on the new tracks. The re-recordings of ‘Ravenheart‘ and ‘Now and Forever‘ fit nicely with the upgraded production and new vocals completing the EP, but ending with a decent cover of Sonata Arctica’s ‘Don’t Say A Word’, albeit a bit of an odd song to cover.
Xandria fans will enjoy ‘Fire & Ashes‘ as the gap between ‘Sacrificium‘ and what ever full length will be coming next, but the general consensus is quite arguably that the originality on the home grown music for this EP is practically non-existent. The covers are great however, and the EP does give us some excitement into what Xandria will be venturing into next!
[verdict]Maybe[/verdict]
[why]While ‘Fire & Ashes’ is a generally entertaining EP, the cause for critique is the new tracks on the EP sound remarkably like Epica. A symphonic metal pleaser, but fans will not find solace in the similarities.[/why]
