WINTER’S VERGE – The Ballad Of James Tig (2020)
WINTER’S VERGE from Cyprus are worth to be checked out. Their upcoming album “The Ballad Of James Tig” delivers symphonic orchestral melodic metal with strong hooklines, vocal harmonies and some folk elements that meet all the requirements of the genre.
The album is very conceptual lyric-wise and contains basically no fillers. Just listen to for instance “A Thousand Souls“ or “I Accept“, two quite different songs which gave an idea of how versatile Winter’s Verge are…
With a concept and lyrics by renowned local author and playwright Frixos Masouras, mixed and produced by vocalist George Charalambous himself, and featuring guest vocalist Teodora Stoyanova Freya playing the part of Nina in the story, ”The Ballad of James Tig” is not just another concept storyline, but a much bolder project by Winter’s Verge with a huge sounding scope and symphonic sound, cementing the band’s name as one of the most exciting and innovative bands from the genre.
Get ready to embark on a musical voyage together with Winter’s Verge, beginning with the symphonic and serene opening aria ‘It Begins’, with George taking the lead with his soulful vocals while his bandmates embellish the airwaves with their respective instruments, whereas the keys by Stavry and all background orchestrations are soon joined by the pounding drums by Danny in the heavier and faster ‘A Thousand Souls’, where the band’s guitar duo Deniel and Savvas are on fire with their riffs and solos, also presenting tons of breaks and variations to make things even more impactful.
Sounding very theatrical from the very first second, ‘Dead Reckoning’ is a lot more sympho than metallic, which obviously means the focus is on its melody rather than its heaviness, while George does a great job once again on vocals, and featuring Teodora for the first time we have the charming and enfolding ‘Timeless’, with the delicate piano notes adding an extra touch of finesse to this beautiful ballad by Winter’s Verge.
‘Killagorak’ (yes, the monster itself) is a two-minute imposing, epic interlude that will embrace you and prepare your senses for the breathtaking ‘I Accept’, starting in full force spearheaded by Danny and his intricate and powerful beats while Deniel and Savvas keep slashing their strings in great fashion, once again with Teodora and George making a dynamic vocal duo for our total delight. A highlight.
Then we have ‘Blood on the Foam’, where the progressive metal played by Winter’s Verge is flawlessly intertwined with pure symphonic passages, not to mention how thunderous the bass jabs and the drums sound; and we’re treated to one final round of Teodora’s gorgeous, operatic vocals in ‘The Sea’, offering our ears eight minutes of dark passages, introspective vocals and crushing riffs.
In the end, you’ll feel absolutely mesmerized by such detailed and thrilling song, before title track ‘The Ballad of James Tig’, a true ballad of the seas, closes the album on a high note, with its semi-acoustic folk guitars and tribal beats permeating the air and putting a climatic and melancholic conclusion to the story told by Winter’s Verge.
It’s truly compelling the way Winter’s Verge told the tale of James Tig in their new album, uniting music and storytelling in a great way. We will not spoil the story here, but let me tell you it’s very interesting.
Highly Recommended
01 – It Begins
02 – A Thousand Souls
03 – Dead Reckoning
04 – Timeless (feat Teodora Stoyanova Freya)
05 – Killagorak
06 – I Accept (feat Teodora Stoyanova Freya)
07 – Blood on the Foam
08 – The Sea (feat Teodora Stoyanova Freya)
09 – The Ballad of James Tig
George Charalambous – Vocals
Deniel Pavlovsky – Guitar
Savvas Parperi – Guitar
Miguel Trapezaris – Bass
Danny Georgiou – Drums
Teodora Stoyanova Freya – guest Vocals
PRE Order:
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