OK on opening this page dear reader the first question you are going to ask is why the hell are we reviewing, in the new release section, an album that is almost two years old. The answer could be deep and meaningful, but actually is rather more mundane. I asked for it from the record company due to the fact the band are playing ProgPower2 in Cheltenham next month and one good turn deserves another... Add to that the fact that Vinland Saga is one hell of a CD and that's surely good enough reason to digress a little with this review.

Leaves Eyes are very much built around the vocals of Liv Kristine Espenæs Krull, whilst the rest of the band pull double duty as members German band Atrocity. The link is even deeper than that as Atrocity frontman Alexander Krull, who here appears providing male vocals, is the husband of Liv.

As you would expect any female fronted “gothic” metal band invites comparisons with contemporaries such as Nightwish, Within Temptation and to a certain extent Stream Of Passion. However, unlike those bands, Leaves Eyes are arguably more classically influenced, and then when you add in the throaty vocals of Alexander Krull, the music is given a completely different edge. Indeed it is this mix of female and male vocals that gives the music its dynamics and startling contrasts, from the pure almost operatic vocals of Liv to the metal tinged Mr. Krull.

The music itself varies from the grandiose and overblown to the very simple as the subject mater demands and can be best described as cinematic music. By this I mean the music sets the mood and paints a picture, with the lyrics and vocals telling the story. In fact words alone cannot do the music justice. Mind you what a story. Dealing with the voyage of a Viking named Leif Erickson, a voyager who journeyed to, and lived in, the Americas some four hundred years before Columbus.

All in all Vinland Saga is simply a stunning album, a CD that will grab your attention on first listen and  shows more and more of itself with each listen. Me,  If you haven't heard of Leaves Eye's then where you vin? Me I’ve been vin to Vinland and I’m off to-do my best Viking impression and pillage the bands other releases.

Let us know your views on 'Vinland Saga'

Track List

Vinland Saga
Farewell Proud Men
Elegy
Solemn Sea
Leaves' Eyes
The Thorn
Misseri (Turn Green Meadows into Grey)
Amhrán (Song of the Winds)
New Found Land
Mourning Tree
Twilight Sun
Ankomst
Heal
For Amelie 

 Line Up