Release date: 26/10/2018
Label: Time to Kill Records
By: Xenia Kromann
Late last year Heidra released their second full-length album "The Blackening Tide" that contains eight tracks with a total of forty-eight minutes. It has been four years since their debut album "Awaiting Dawn" came out so it was definitely time for something new. When they shared the album cover the first time one could already see a huge difference and how they have stepped up their game, to a new and more vibrant level. That is an album cover that speaks for the album.
"The Blackening Tide" is a concept album continuing the epic narrative and story arc that started with "Awaiting Dawn", and building upon Heidra's musical trademarks of twin lead guitar harmonies, soaring orchestral passages, growled vocals mixed with powerful clean singing and relentless barrage of crushing metal riffs. The Story of a king deposed and his attempts to reclaim his throne continue and the album opens with the dawn of the day of reckoning and the march to the battlefield, where the two armies clash in a murderous fury. With victory seemingly at hand for our hero, events suddenly take a turn for the worse as he and all his army is cast into hellish realm. - Heidra
First of all, this is an album that contains insanely many elements that shoot one in so many different directions. Everything from intense clean vocals, extremely powerful guitar riffs, beautiful background choir and a good depth that gives the album it's very own touch. A couple of days before the release of the album, they released the music video to the song 'Lady Of The Shade' which has to get the price for the best Danish music video of 2018.
Digging into the album, the first song you will be greeted by is 'Dawn' which opens with an acoustic guitar intro and Morten bryld's strong clean vocals. This is the song on the album with the least energy and the one who does not leave a mark because it seems characterless in relation to how lively the rest of the album is. Later in the song, one is greeted by a more aggressive vocal and a lot of different instruments that build up the song even more. The clean vocals were not so appealing at first but became much better. We dive straight into 'The Price in Blood', that is totally reverse compared to the first song. We are welcomed by powerful guitar riffs that were powerful at first but becomes much wilder. Along with it, there is a beautiful woman's choir in the background that melts really well with it and makes this the best opening on the album. The guitar continues throughout the song with the very powerful riffs that really defines the song. 'Rain of Embers' starts out slowly with a small keyboard play and switches between two types of vocals. This is the album's quiet song, but it still has a tremendous amount of energy in the lyrics. 'Lady of the Shade' is another one that opens with a small keyboard play. This song makes you wake up and listen. There is a lot of repeating riffs but the vocals make one feel powerful like the man standing on the album cover. There is definitely a story throughout the whole album that is being told, you can really hear it in the lyrics since they are very clear to be heard at all times. While I was writing this I could (within a couple of hours) already almost the lyrics for the entire album and that just says how catchy, and easy going it was but also how powerful the story is told and how much you were touched by it. 'A Crown of Five Fingers' has these repeating pieces that are as catchy as everything else on the album, every song is defined by their own capturing pieces. This is one of the more energetic songs on the album and compared to some of the other long tracks that did not have the same spirit this should have been longer and not the shortest track.
'The Blackening Tide', tells you the story you are imagining when you are looking at the album cover. They have altered the vocals too much on this track, and it does not sound good. The guitars are featureless compared to the previous songs and the only thing that works on this track is the chorus because the words are easy to learn and it is perfect to sing-along to. This song seems better live than on the album for sure cause the energy is missing. Moving on to 'Corrupted Shores' who starts beautifully with a very folkish tune that fits in really well and which was something that has been missing until know on the album. The vocals are completely comfortable here and go so well with the instruments. The transition feels quite natural when the vocal goes from growl to clean. The last song of the album 'Hell's Depths', which is my favorite one. Starting out with a beautiful guitar that is played string by string and goes straight to some distinctive drums. As mentioned earlier, the vocals make a great deal on this album, as it is a story. And this song just has all the good things that have been in the previous songs and more. With the album's longest number, it is really good that it is the last one. Even the little piece of piano that is in the middle of the song fits in with how much upbeat the tempo is towards the ending, and it is the first track where the drums really jump forward and take hold. There are, however, several times where the song could have ended, and for a closing track, the length is great. The instruments sound good with the story the lyrics tell us to the very last seconds where the song is ending in the same way as it started. Very beautiful!
The most appealing thing about the album is that the lyrics are typical Power Metal sing-along songs and that is what you notice the most on the album. There are long songs on the album which is good, but it sounds very similar and can, therefore, be way to monotonous in the long run. The last song differs from the others and is really good, his clean vocals give the album a power-like feel and mood. The album's strength is clearly in the lyrics and guitar work, the pace fluctuates throughout the album and it is confusing.
Out of 6
Listen to the entire album right here
Favorite track: Hell's Depths
Tracklist:
- Dawn
- The Price in Blood
- Rain of Embers
- Lady of the Shade
- A Crown of Five Fingers
- The Blackening Tide
- Corrupted Shores
- Hell's Depths
Live Review!We attended Heidra's album release party earlier this month to experience the new album in live action. As we entered Studenterhuset my colleague was asked to be the light tech for the night, because the venue did not have anyone present. The place was packed and to see so many people attending their release party must have been a beautiful sight for the band. The evening was divided into two, one part where they played the entire new album in one set and the second where they played some classics. The audience seemed to enjoy the energy from the stage and that really infected the crowd, and the night turned out to be filled with a lot of sing-alongs and the one guy that was crowd surfing almost the entire show. After listening a lot to the new album I have decided that for my taste the album is way better live than hearing it on speakers. The energy on the album is just minimally and the way they present themselves with the album on stage is everything. Such a great night!
Photo album from the release party: www.facebook.com/heidra.release.party.2019
Buy the album and merchandise here: www.heidra.ecwid.com
The album was recorded, mixed, and mastered by Marco Mastrobuono at Kick Recording Studio in Rome.
Cover art by Dragan Paunović Artwork
www.facebook.com/ArtworkDraganPaunovic
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