This month, by way of a change, I’ve decided to start a new feature, focusing on an overlooked and underrated band and acting as a kind of buyers guide for newcomers to them. So, what you won’t see is a top ten Maiden or Priest album rundown (just go on Youtube for these) but something more to celebrate the underdogs, as part of the mission statement for this site. This month then, the often underappreciated Austrian symphonic metal greats Edenbridge are under review, a band formed all the way back in 1998 yet still going strong today, partly due to a small but extremely loyal fanbase (myself included).
A quick history often starts with the band’s first release ‘Sunrise in Eden‘ in 1999 – a real blueprint of the band’s unique heavily melodic style and instantly identifiable sound, powered as always by the angelic ethereal voice of Sabine Edelsbacher and the golden guitar strings of mastermind songwriter Lanvall. 2001 then saw the release the classic ‘Arcana‘ LP which really cemented the musical formula and by now the band were receiving favourable comparisons with then contemporaries Nightwish, The Gathering and Within Temptation, although they were far from imitators. With a growing fanbase, especially in Asia, Edenbridge then continued through the 2000s with consistently great and sophisticated albums such as 2004’s ‘Shine‘, the epic orchestral ‘My Earth Dream‘ in 2007 and 2009’s arguably career high ‘Solitaire‘, the latter especially receiving great reaction through the minor hit single ‘Higher‘.
In the 2010s, despite having switched labels a few times, multiple line-up changes and not touring on a scale deserved by them (blame the record companies!), the band continued their consistent quality on the orchestra backed ‘The Bonding‘ through to the progressive tinged ‘Dynamind‘ (their most recent opus), all musically much more removed from their original faster paced (power metal-esque) material, and all with high profile single video releases consistently clocking up high viewing figures on Youtube. 2017’s ‘The Great Momentum‘ also landed in the national Germany charts at no.82, their highest album peak to date. Now, with a second ‘best of’ collection released this year (the ‘Chronicles of Eden‘ part 2), while Edenbridge have yet to crack the metal mainstream in the same way that Nightwish or Evanesence have it (which is quite frankly a crime), it’s still a good time to discover a massively underrated and overlooked band who have yet to release a below average album. So, for fans and newcomers alike, here is my very first album guide …
ESSENTIAL (must have purchases):
MyEarthDream (2008) – This is Edenbridge’s ‘Once‘ – it’s that simple. A stunning landmark release for the band, full of brilliant material supported with the backing of the Czech film orchestra, which really delivered in style on the likes of the punchy ‘Paramount‘, the sweeping majestic ‘Place Of Higher Power‘, the rocking ‘Remember Me‘ and magnificent epic title track. Lanvall’s guitar riffs were for the first time down tuned resulting in their heaviest material to date which added brilliantly to the bombast and epic tone. Even the very ‘Disney’ ballad ‘Whale Rider‘ hits the mark for shear emotional appeal, partly of course due to Sabine’s top form vocals. And if you needed confirmation of Lanvall’s superb composing skills, the instrumental ‘MyEarthDream Suite‘ would surely also prove the point beyond any doubt. In sum, this is essential Edenbridge and a masterful symphonic metal effort.
Arcana (2001) – Only a year after 2000’s extremely promising debut, ‘Arcana‘ upped everything in terms of songwriting, performances and production resulting in a wonderfully varied and diverse release. There isn’t a single filler from the full force prog power of ‘Starlight Reverie‘ and ‘Susperia‘, the glorious epics ‘The Palace‘ and mammoth title track, the gorgeous gentle ballads ‘Moment Of Time‘ and ‘Winter Winds‘ and of course upbeat and catchy as hell ‘Fly On A Rainbow Dream’ – the best example of ‘happy metal’ (outside of Freedom Call) you’ll ever hear! Everything here in fact just clicks with style, bravo, melody, and a unique positivity – a world away from all those bands singing about death, destruction and Satan. And when an album’s bonus tracks ‘Whisper of the Ages‘ and ‘Velvet Eyes of Dawn‘ are right up there with the rest of the album, you know you’re hearing a band sounding so fresh and inspired and who at the time even had a sub-genre named for them: ‘angelic bombastic metal’. ‘Arcana‘ will show you why.
Shine (2004) – My last pick essential album pick goes to 2004’s ‘Shine‘, which by all accounts marked the end of the speedy double bass (power) metal sound towards a much more heavy riffed, mid-paced and bolder sounding offering, yet still brimming with classic Edenbridge standards. The title track is a great example (still included in their set today) alongside the epic ‘And The Road Goes Go‘ and the more progressive and quirky ‘Canterville Ghost‘, whilst the band still showed they could deliver an ideal up tempo melodic winner with the lightning ‘October Sky‘. Elsewhere, Sabine absolutely shines (excuse the pun) with that immense angelic and ethereal tone on the spellbinding ballads ‘Centennial Legend‘ and ‘The Canterville Ghost prelude‘ where as again the album B-side ‘Sacred Ground‘ is an absolute gem which, like the whole album, challenges the listener with an array of sonic landscapes and styles (i.e. dipping into traditional Asian textures), backed up by Lanvall’s instantly identifiable and memorable soloing guitar tone. Finally, ‘Shine’s big production is also a step up from former efforts, perfectly balanced between heavy and melodic and equalling another must have CD. Exceptional stuff.
GREAT (Definitely check out in addition to the above)
Solitaire (2010) – After the landmark ‘MyEarthDream’ opus, Edenbridge’s next release ‘Solitaire‘ kept the upfront de-tuned guitars although dropped much of the (live) orchestration yet still resulted in a quality LP. Arguably the album could have featured in my essential list (and I’m sure many fans would have put it there), not least on the back of the now signature tune (Youtube) hit single ‘Higher‘ (a superbly written and structured number tailor made as a single), although a couple of fillers do weaken the side a little – the unremarkable ‘Come Undone‘ and ‘A Virtual Dream?’ spring to mind. However, the rest of the tracks are superbly constructed, diverse, epic, melodic and accessible in true Edenbridge musical style, including the title track, the mesmerising ‘Skyline’s End‘ (Sabine’s sweeping vocals at their best), the intense ‘Bon Voyage Vagabond‘ and of course the climatic, almost cinematic, ‘Brothers on Diamir‘ – musically and thematically a standout. The heavier production and performances are also striking on the album and the progressive keyboard flourishes equally compelling. In other words, another great Edenbridge addition to your collection.
Sunrise in Eden (2000) – The album that started it all and as such the band’s debut is one where they were still discovering their sound and style and therefore the LP is a bit of a mixed affair and sonically very much rooted in progressive power metal territory (albeit the lighter end). However, while the band these days rarely draw from this release live, it does contain some absolute Edenbridge standards including the speedy and hugely catchy ‘Cheyenne Spirit‘ (a live encore track in the band’s early days), the mighty and enthralling ‘Wings Of The Wind‘, the title track displaying Lanvall’s oriental influences (especially in the intro) and two dreamy power ballads ‘Forever Shine On‘ and ‘Take Me Back‘, both showcasing for the first time Sabine’s unique soothing and natural voice. Again ‘Sunrise …’ is an early example of the strength of song craftsmanship, musical textures and influences (from Middle Eastern to Asian), great melodies and a vocalist who did not try and copy all the generic operatic Tarja Turunen clones post 2000. Of course, it being the debut, a few tracks don’t quite hit the mark (to these ears the more average ‘Holy Fire‘ and ‘Midnight At Noon’) and the album is less cohesive than future efforts. Nevertheless, for collectors it is still pretty much essential listening, and let’s hope the band do start to include more of this material in future live sets.
The Bonding (2013) – The best Edenbridge album of 2010s goes to the ambitious and wonderfully varied ‘The Bonding‘. Here, despite the odd filler, the symphonic magnitude of ‘Far Out Of Reach‘, the sublimely haunting ‘Sea Of Souls‘, total tear jerker ‘Death Is Not The End‘ and the monumental title track epic (with Erik Mattesen guesting on vocals) are proof of a band on top form and engaging the listener at every turn. Many fans indeed view the title track as the group’s best epic track (over 12 minutes) whereas blatant single ‘Alight A New Tomorrow‘ also should have propelled the band to higher level commercially, of course not forgetting the excellent performances and production everywhere here. If true be told, I’m not too keen on run-of-the-mill ‘The Invisible Force‘ and ‘Shadow Of My Memory‘ (especially the latter’s use of death metal style grunts) but they do not take away from an otherwise hugely engaging and endearing opus I often regularly revisit.
GOOD (Not their best but still worth exploring)
Aphelion (2003) – After the career and style defining ‘Arcana‘, ‘Aphelion‘ continued the pacey symphonic power metal direction yet without the standout cuts of the latter. The material here is a little less adventurous and compelling and more one dimensional than your average Edenbridge release, with more fillers creeping in such as the straightforward ‘Deadend Fire‘, ‘Perennial Dreams‘ and ‘Farpoint Anywhere’ – perfectly fine but not essential listens. Likewise, the more lengthy tracks (‘The Undiscovered Land‘ and ‘Red Ball In Blue Sky‘) also seem a little less inspired, lacking the bombastic X factor of future efforts. However for every average moment, the album does produce a gem, from the blistering and instantly rewarding ‘Skyward‘ and ‘Fly at Higher Game‘ of the faster numbers to Lanvall’s lovely delicate strings on ‘Where Silence Has Lease‘ and another great bonus track ‘The Whispering Galley‘, demonstrating a more measured and musically interesting listening experience complete with lovely time changes, varied tempos and some sweet Lanval guitar licks. The overall result of ‘Aphelion‘ is therefore a mixed bag and therefore not considered essential.
The Grand Design (2005) – Following 2004’s exceptional ‘Shine‘, ‘TGD‘ saw Edenbridge further spread their musical wings, not least due to their collaboration with solo artist virtuoso Robby Valentine helping bolster the vocal lines and harmonies and general bombast. And the results are certainly impressive on the majestic opener ‘Terra Nova‘ (which hits you straight away with the “welcome home, welcome life” opening verse), the catchy as always ‘Flame Of Passion‘ and parts of the title track (naturally, the ‘epic long song’) and its fabulous chorus, even if the track is too disjointed overall. The AOR flavoured and uplifting ‘On Top Of The World‘ and ‘Electric Eye’ Priest-esque sounding ‘See You Fading Afar‘ are also highlights but again the album still suffers from a few duds – the dull ‘Evermore‘ and two throwaway ballads which are pleasant sounding (due to Sabine’s vocal touch) but nothing more. Why the band’s brilliant single at the time – a cover of the James Bond classic ‘For Your Eyes Only‘ – didn’t make the original album is anyone’s guess, nor did exotic B-side ‘The Thin Red Line‘ get included, although luckily the recent SPV reissue features both these tracks. Overall then, despite some definite highlights, ‘TGD‘ with its weaker production values (especially from a guitar sound standpoint) is often rated lower by fans and you can’t really argue with that and hence comes under the ‘worth exploring’ category.
Dynamind (2018) – Another album worth hearing, if not one of their best, was 2018’s ‘Dynamind‘, a good if inconsistent release which scales back the orchestral/symphonic leanings of previous efforts in favour of more upfront guitars and 70s prog rock touches. Again, leading single ‘Live And Let Go‘ is a textbook example of Lanvall’s ability to craft a hooky up tempo four minute winner whilst the equally irresistible Celtic flavoured ‘On The Other Side‘ (almost a sister track to Shine’s classic ‘Wild Chase’) is another leading highlight alongside the sweeping orchestral strings of ‘All Our Yesterdays‘ and brilliantly punchy heaviness on ‘What Dreams May Come’. Unfortunately, the rest, aside from the accoustic folky, if plodding, ‘Tauerngold‘, are fairly unremarkable by Edenbridge’s high standards – i.e. good but lacking those trademark standout riffs, solos, melodies or strong choruses. The closer and by now all too familiar epic final finale ‘The Last Of His Kind‘ has some fine moments but again follows almost the same musical structure as previous and more engaging epics on former albums. Full marks nevertheless as always for the production, yet for the next album, an upsurge of variety, even scaling back the heavy guitars, as well as a focus on more catchy hooks and choruses should be the band’s priority.
AVOID (fans only):
The Great Momentum (2017) – Even for an extremely consistent band like Edenbridge, the occasional below average release is commonplace and as such 2016’s ‘The Great Momentum‘ is in all likelihood what most fans would consider their most predictable, by-the-numbers offering, despite the production and performances being of typical (tight) high standards. There is actually nothing awful about the material here but coming after the fantastic experimental ‘The Bonding‘ opus, ‘TGM‘ feels far too formulaic, with familiar riffs and reframes being borrowed from previous releases with only hooky singles ‘Shiantara‘ and ‘The Moment Is Now‘ making a memorable impact. Indeed even the grand finale ‘The Greatest Gift Of All’ meanders on too long to hold interest and lacks direction, resulting in the band’s weakest 10 minute plus song. A shame as I personally love the album artwork and the positive messages within the lyrics – often another unappreciated aspect of Edenbridge’s musical identity. For true fans only then.
So there we have it, Edenbridge’s back catalogue (minus the live releases and Voiciano CD) put in order and what a diverse and rich body of work it is aswell. If you agree or disagree, pop a comment below and for the newcomer, hunt down these releases (most which were reissued by SPV) asap! For more info see: https://edenbridge.org/en/main/
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