AMBERIAN DAWN – Innuendo [Limited Edition + Japan bonus] (2015)

We were pretty pleased by Finnish sympho / prog metal combo AMBERIAN DAWN with their last year album, so let’s see what they are delivering in the fresh 2015 opus “Innuendo“.
The formula is the same; some epic vocals combined with basic melodic (light) metal, touched with some hard rock groove at times, but always steeped in symphonic yet poppy motif.

“Innuendo” is the second Amberian Dawn album with vocalist Capri Virkkunen at the microphone. She’s got the typical voice for the genre: melodic, strong, controlled, and slightly operatic, yet not grossly so. In other words, she doesn’t try to use her voice as an ice pick to your ear drums.
Musically, Amberian Dawn has changed little. The larger content of “Innuendo” is easy listenable melodic symphonic metal, often fortified with rock groove and catchy melodies, which give them some sensible accessibility.
‘Fame & Gloria’, ‘Ladyhawk’, and ‘Knock Knock Who’s There’ fall in this category, with the latter more ‘rocking’ akin Ayreon. Amberian Dawn can get large, fast and ambitious too as with ‘Rise Of Evil’.
While the breadth of presence in that song comes from the power metal, within ‘Symphony Nr 1, Part 1 – The Witchcraft’ it rises first from the orchestration, only to be revved up some powerful riffage. The song marches along until riffs eventually turn to a speedy guitar solo.

We have an earworm of a track in ‘The Court Of Mirror Hall’ which features a brilliant repeating melody that gets presented to the listener both on the instruments and vocals, and you’ll find yourself humming along to it for days afterwards.
Of additional interest is ‘Angelique’. It’s the lightest song here moving almost entirely upon Virkkunen’s voice with piano and then embellished by lavish orchestration. The song reminds of a soliloquy sung by a female protagonist in the heart, the dramatic turning point, of a great Victorian Broadway musical. Or it will simply remind of how talented a vocalist Capri Virkkunen really is.

“Innuendo” is another fine melodic and symphonic metal album from Amberian Dawn, carried along by the strong song arrangements and exceptional vocals.
All is based on the aforementioned genres, but this band is quite different from the others playing in this style; most the songs are pretty accessible with a ‘poppy’ feel mostly provided by the lush production, a crystal clear one for sure.

01 – Fame & Gloria
02 – Ladyhawk
03 – Innuendo
04 – The Court Of Mirror Hall
05 – Angelique
06 – Rise Of The Evil
07 – Chamber Of Dreadful Dreams
08 – Knock Knock, Who’s There?
09 – Symphony Nr. 1, Part 1 – The Witchcraft
10 – Your Time – My Time
11 – Fame & Gloria (Instrumental Version) [bonus track]
12 – Sunrise (Re-recorded Vocals) [bonus track]
13 – The Darkest Times [Japanese bonus track]

Capri Virkkunen – Vocals
Tuomas Seppala – Guitar & Keyboards
Emil Pohjalainen – Guitar
Joonas Pykala-aho – Drums
Jukka Hoffren – Bass

BUY IT !
www.amazon.de/Innuendo-Limited-First-Amberian-Dawn/dp/B013HC8JWS
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