It’s been a while since I have listened to a Leah album. Loved her earlier work and got pretty excited when King’s and Queens came out. Especially after I saw how long it was (I like longer songs). And while there was some great stuff on it, overall it didn’t grab me as much as I expected. It felt overly long and an album should never overstay its welcome. I need to revisit it to see if I still feel the same way.

That said, I wasn’t overly optimistic about this one going into it given how I felt about the last one, but I quickly found my wariness unnecessary. This one is incredible. It’s heavy, symphonic, has those Enya elements at times, with lots of harmony and melody. In short, it kicks ass.

And the album this time around is a bit shorter, closer to 50 minutes than 70. So nothing ever overstays it’s welcome. To seemingly contradict this, the first track, The Quest starts things off with an epicish 10 minute length. There is a bit of repetition here with the chorus over that run time but it is so good, I don’t care.

Every freaking song here is excellent. A big airy, yet weighty, chorus on Edge of Your Sword coupled with an upbeat verse section that is just catchy as hell. We get a bit of a power ballad type track in Lion Arises.  And you get the almost poppy Ghost Upon a Throne. And every song here works. They all work.

The album closes with an Amazing Grace type song, The Water is Wide. Basically Amazing Grace in all aspects but lyrics. It is but it isn’t. Very beautiful and now the only version I can listen to as the other is way overplayed.

The band on this one is made up of: Troy Donockley (Nightwish) on pipes and flutes, Timo Somers (Delain) on guitars, Chen Balbus (Orphaned Land) on Saz and Oud,
Barend Courbois (Blind Guardian) on bass, and Sander Zoer (ex. Delain) on drums and percussion. Pretty stellar line-up if you ask me.

I do want to note we have another loud album here. It isn’t so bad that I have to take a break part way through. But I am noting it and a point or so is being deducted for it. Otherwise, this album is stellar. I highly recommend it if you are a fan of hers (you know you already have it), love Celtic sounding metal, or just love songs with lots of melody and harmonies and gorgeous vocals.

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Rating: 8.5/10

Tracklist:

01. The Quest
02. Edge of Your Sword
03. Lion Arises
04. Heir
05. Ruins of Illusion
06. Labyrinth
07. Abyss
08. Oblivion (Between Two Worlds)
09. Ghost Upon a Throne
10. The Water Is Wide

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Label: Inner Wound Recordings
Release Date: Out now
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LEAHthemusic

Edge of Your Sword

Making of The Quest Documentary