LAST DAYS OF EDEN – Ride the World
- Posted on 25-12-2015
Genre bending or blending appears to be the new course of action for musicians to establish their own take on a variety of influences in the metal realm. Spain’s Last Days of Eden for instance are a sextet that fuse together a mixture of symphonic power metal and gothic/ Celtic nuances on their debut full-length record "Ride the World".
Vocalist Lady Ani has multi-octave power in her pipes, certain to draw comparisons to Charlotte Wessels of Delain or Simone Simons from Epica as her intoxicating storytelling pushes "Bring Me the Night" and "Paradise" as early highlights. Bagpiper Gustavo Rodriguez comes to the forefront on many tracks, especially the ballad "Moonlight" and gothic/folk anthem "The Piper’s Call". The heavier guitar tone brings the aforementioned "Paradise" into possible modern pastures, especially when co-lead vocals with guitarist Dani G. provide the adequate push and pull dynamic that can allow modern rock/ Lacuna Coil-like audiences to catch onto the band’s diverse offerings. "A Game of War" is an exhilarating 16 minute plus epic, shifting from acoustics and keyboard tranquility to grandiose symphonic flourishes again shining a spotlight for Last Days of Eden musically and vocally as one could see a lot of interesting visual/ theatrical options if performed live.
At 14 songs and 71 minutes, if there’s anything to quibble about it may be that Last Days of Eden needs to think about the quantity versus quality ratio of records – and that rarely should there be a total time length beyond an hour for ideal continuous consumption lest certain songs fade away into oblivion. Considering their brief three-year career, Last Days of Eden with "Ride the World" gives the band an ideal chance to gain a wide swath of Celtic, gothic, and symphonic metal fans who appreciate everything from Eluveitie to the almighty Nightwish.