Album of the week

In the past few days, I really had a difficult time trying to figure out what album I was going to post for my album of the week blog entry. It was a toss up between the new albums by Amberian Dawn, The Dark Element, Grendel, and the 20th anniversary edition of The Hating Tree by my favorite band Autumn. Ultimately in the end I ended up with the self-titled album by The Dark Element. I have been listening to it every day since it dropped last Friday.

The Dark Element is features former Nightwish singer Anette Olzon and former Sonata Arctica guitarist Jani Liimatainen, rounding out with Jonas Kuhlberg on bass and Jani Hurula on drums. I have been excited about this new project since it was unveiled over social media months ago. I thought releasing four songs prior to the album's release was very smart and to attract people's attention. The band unleashed four tracks prior to the release which made me all the more excited.
I was very happy to see Anette back doing what her voice was best suited for...symphonic metal.

Over the last few years I have come to appreciate Anette's work in Nightwish but to be honest I thought she needed to be in a band whose music really complimented her style of singing. Tuomas' music is more geared to classically trained singers but that is my opinion. I think Anette found the band she deserved to be in with The Dark Element. The results is wonderful. Anette's vocals really shine on The Dark Element. The rest of the band is as talented as their lead singer. I really enjoyed Jani's guitar solo on the ballad "Heaven of Your Heart".

I won't lie, the album is not completely flawless. I think some tweaks will be needed here and there on the music and lyrics for the next album. There were a couple of tracks that fell flat to this music fan because the melodies didn't really grab me by my ears like "Here's to You", "Someone You Used to Know", and "Only One Who Knows Me" .  Despite the minor flaws, the music overall has great melodic hooks and the musicianship is top notch. I look forward to hearing more from The Dark Element and hope for a long, prosperous career for the band.

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