The warrior longboats are coming back ashore with Leaves’ Eyes 7th full-length studio album, "Sign Of The Dragonhead." Produced through Germany’s Mastersound Entertainment by Leaves’ Eyes’ own Alex Krull and Thorsten Bauer, this is the band’s first full release featuring new singer Elina Siirala. Fans got a taste of her work via the 2016 EP Fires In The North, but this album gives a much fuller sampling of her skills and a better sense of what fans can expect from this new incarnation of Leaves’ Eyes.
In brief: if you are an admirer of Leaves’ Eyes previous catalogue, you’ll relish "Sign Of The Dragonhead." The album picks up musically where 2015's “King Of Kings” left off, with a similar production style and lyrical themes. The mixture of styles and pacing from track to track makes this an eminently listenable album, with haunting ballads such as “Fairer Than The Sun” seguing seamlessly into headbanging anthems like “Shadows In The Night." Clocking in at just over 45 minutes, it’s a balanced and well-conceived album from beginning to end.
As a big fan of symphonic metal, I am aware of the potential pitfalls this genre holds. Bands who are able to avoid recreating Nightwish's sound still can move so far into melodic territory that the music becomes indistinguishable from commercial hard rock. No worries here on either front. With their new album, Leaves’ Eyes maintains their own distinct sound, navigating the treacherous shoals of “beauty vs. beast” vocals, folkish elements, Viking lyrical imagery, and big orchestrations. The band utilizes all these tools effectively, in ways that never come off as derivative.
Vocalist Elina Siirala’s singing is quite impressive throughout "Sign Of The Dragonhead," her voice expressed with variety and heart. Elina’s delivery is distinct from predecessor Liv Kristine, but not so much that fans will see her addition as a radical retooling of the band’s sound. Her voice gives extra punch to the Celtic-inspired pace of standout tracks “Across The Sea” and “Völva." As usual with Leaves’ Eyes, Alex Krull’s harsh vocals are used judiciously and in just the right places to give extra aggression and “oomph."
Like previous Leaves' Eyes releases, folk sounds play a key role, but the band wisely meters them out, with fiddles, pipes, choirs and acoustic guitar nurturing rather than overwhelming the songs on which they appear. “Riders On The Wind” is a great example of this balance, providing the perfect meshing of sonic metal and folk kick. Krull and Bauer did an impressive job in producing this album: the mix is clean and lively, making the music that much more exciting.
This is a solid metal album, and one I won’t forget when considering the best for 2018 at the end of the year. This album is very consistent, and the only negative I might mention is that there’s not any single track that leaps out as a ‘must-hear’ classic like the songs “My Destiny” or “Hell To The Heavens” from previous albums. However, with zero filler – no weak submissions here – and so much good material, Leaves’ Eyes will have a tough time determining which songs will represent this album on setlists. With "Sign of the Dragonhead," Leaves’ Eyes further solidify their niche as one of the strongest symphonic metal bands going.