Amberian Dawn – Temptation’s Gates
Amberian Dawn – Temptation’s Gates
Napalm Records
Release date: 26/06/26
Review by Oli Gonzalez
8/10
Despite regularly polluting my ears with death, black, and post metal, I have a soft spot for a bit of symphonic power metal! Finland’s Amberian Dawn seem like the band that can scratch this itch with the promise of a new album, “Temptation’s Gates” via the rather respectable Napalm Records. An album which will feature the vocals of new frontwoman Nicole Willerton. The album aims to deliver a sound that is ‘a more modern, occasionally even surprisingly rough path’, and also aims to remove the label of being THAT band who covered many of Abba’s greatest hits! If you’ve got time, check those out! But first, let’s get into “Temptation’s Gates”.
Well, they got the ‘surprisingly rough path’ part right! The sound of the band feels so much beefier and denser overall. ‘Moon’ is perhaps the best example of that, with the crunchier distorted guitars locking in elegantly with the galloping bass and drums to create a solid yet not overwhelming wall of sound in the early parts of the song. This sets the foundations for the synths and Nicole’s ever-catchy vocal lines to be the melodic focal point for the song. Whilst most garbage in the charts is essentially a 3-minute song with a 5-second hook, ‘Moon’ is packed full of these hooks to latch onto, emerging organically without feeling too manufactured though. The progressive-djent flavour of the song – in the style of TesseracT – reinforces the band’s statement regarding a more modern direction.
If you look a good ol’ traditional epic symphonic ballad, ‘Eternal Flame’ is for you. This sticks within the classic boundaries of the genre – choppy rhythms, indulgent lead guitars and synths – in a way that feels not predictable but rather comforting, a statement that the band hasn’t forgotten their roots. Likewise with ‘Life Is Art’, with that glorious soaring chorus being one that’ll stick in your subconscious for hours after being first exposed to it! Just like the guitar solo in ‘The Night Is Waiting For Me’ will too!
We all love a good ballad, don’t we? Things slow right down, and the lights go down for ‘Undying Colours’. Their fan base just needs a bit of time to get used to this. Once they have, you could have a full-blown raging fan favourite and one that will have full venues singing along to!
As compared to their previous vocalists, Willerton has stepped in elegantly, adding her own stamp with her glorious, rich, and lower operatic style vocals to the band’s sound. Though she does this without doing too much disruption to the band’s DNA. In addition, she can absolutely nail that upper soprano register; she does so sparingly, so the impact of which is truly felt when deployed! Talk about impact, some of her screaming vocals weren’t expected! Kind of like a dog meowing! Take ‘Unchained’ for example; did you really think she was going to unleash that kind of growl halfway through?!
In many ways, Amberian Dawn have stuck to their symphonic metal roots whilst also taking a huge gamble in experimenting with new sounds, doing so in a way that feels pure and not over-engineered. “Temptation’s Gate” is everything you’d expect from a symphonic metal band, whilst simultaneously demonstrating other avenues the genre can take. “Temptation’s Gate” provides another reason to remember Amberian Dawn, and not just for being an ABBA cover band!
Track list
- Temptation’s Gates
- The Vision Of Dreaming
- Moon
- Unchained
- Eternal Flame
- Life Is Art
- This Night Is Waiting For Me
- Undying Colours
- The Garden
- Phantasmagoria
Links
http://www.facebook.com/amberiandawn
http://www.instagram.com/amberiandawn
Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Oli Gonzalez and Ever Metal, with photos used with kind permission of Necroshons. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
