A review of the debut album from North American symphonic metal act Everdawn entitled ‘Cleopatra’. Everdawn isn’t an entirely new band, but a reconstituted version of a previous act Midnight Eternal. The musician you’re most likely to recognize from Everdawn – and a key additional in the changed lineup from Midnight Eternal – is bassist Mike LePond who many might know from Symphony X, also Ross The Boss band, Death Dealer, and many other projects. He brings a steady, veteran presence to this new incarnation of the band. Another fresh face in the lineup is vocalist Alina Gavrilenko, who also goes by the moniker Alina Snowmaiden, taking the vocal duties in place of Midnight Eternal singer Raine Hilai. To my ears, and one of the big differences with this new Everdawn release for those who heard Midnight Eternal’s album, is that Raine’s voice was a bit more Liv Kristine-esque, while Alina’s vocals bring a bit less sweetness and more muscle.
Now, in terms of what Everdawn offers on ‘Cleopatra’, the listener can expect fairly straightforward European-style symphonic power metal. There’s more emphasis on the power here than the symphonic style, and you won’t find any massive backing orchestrations along the lines of Xandria or Sirenia. As far as the singing, its mostly operatic soprano female vocals occasionally bonded with clean male singing. No growls in this one.
Listening through this album about a half dozen times, I come away generally impressed. There is something different and interesting in each song. While they don’t get very progressive stylistically – mostly adherering to clear verse-chorus structure – they still mix it up and surprise on occasion.
I’ll say I found the second half of the album was somewhat stronger than the first. Looking at that first half: the rocking, up tempo intro “Ghost Shadow Requium” was decent but let off the gas too much and might have been better placed mid-track list. Both the title track “Cleopatra” and “Your Majesty Sadness” had the band going for a big sound. I do give points for effort here, and truly did enjoy both songs – but I’m not sure they quite nailed it with the choruses on each being a bit of a let down. “Stranded In Baglore” – which I believe is the first single released off the album, is a decent, catchy track. I could see this being one I’d enjoy more live than on record.
But as I moved further into the album I found more to appreciate, or maybe their approach just grew on me. “Infinity Divine” has maybe the best vocal melody on the record building to a great crecendo – echos of Tarja Turunan – really excellently done. “Rider Of The Storm” and “Lucid Dream” both show the guitars attacking with even heavier riffage and more solid operatic highs from Alina, plus some nice keyboard work. The song “Heart Of A Lion” is the most anthemic track and could be right off a Leaves’ Eyes album. And then there’s Toledo 712 AD, which is entirely instrumental! Easily the heaviest song and a sterling headbanger. Looking back over the entire tracklist I’m not knocking the earlier album songs, but those later on the agenda seem to come with an overall more ‘metal’ feel. The party really develops the further you listen in to this one.
So, how do I rate this album ‘Cleopatra’. Well, as far as debuts go, this is pretty strong; give em three points for that. Delivering solid symphonic power metal based out of North America – where the genre needs more representation - earns them five more points. The first half of the album wasn’t as strong as it could’ve been – minus a point, but the second half more than made up for it – plus two points. Total it up and that’s 9 out of ten for Cleopatra. It’s early so far, but so far ‘Cleopatra’ is my fav album of 2021! Listening to this release really I’m very much looking forward to hearing more from the Everdawn and perhaps the opportunity to see them live in the future.