Universal
2010
1. Anteroom Of Death
2. Until My Last Breath
3. I Feel Immortal
4. In For a Kill
5. Underneath
6. Little Lies
7. Rivers of Lust
8. Dark Star
9. Falling Awake
10. The Archive of Lost Dreams
11. Crimson Deep
For all intensive purposes What Lies Beneath marks Tarja's second serious solo outing or at least in the metal realm. Most people tend to forget or disregard the first classical/christmas album and consider the last, My Winter Storm, the debut. I liked that one and I've gotta say it made me feel like the talent from Nightwish went this way. That band has just lost their way.
Listening to this one it does not start on a high note at all as Anteroom Of Death is extremely awkward shifting jarringly between mellow sort of classical moments to heavier ones. This song simply does not work and I wish it didn't appear here at all. Things do get better though fairly quickly as Until My Last Breath is a perfectly soaring gothic/symphonic single that is totally infectious. Following on it's heels, I Feel Immortal is a bit more somber and took some growing on me, but I feel this one is also really solid. Nice semi-ballad with some great vocal deliveries from Tarja. In For A Kill is up next and it nicely merges a harder edge into the music while still keeping a melodic, symphonic vibe to the music and Underneath is another nice melodic number.
Up to this point the album has had a good run of 4 excellent songs, but the album takes a bit of a turn after that I must say. When you hear the hard chugging riff of Little Lies you'll know what I'm talking about. This sort of music just does not lend itself nearly as well to Tarja's voice and as such the highlights come early. Dark Star, Falling Awake, and Crimson Deep are similar with a sort of modern hard guitar sound that takes over the music and do not quite work. This sort of song dominated by distorted chugging just doesn't really work for me. I need some atmosphere at least. These songs aren't terrible, but it is a downgrade and a noticeable drop off. Other than this sound the later part of the album has 2 very light and airy ballads that are kinda forgettable.
What Lies Beneath really was sort of a confusing album to review because it is so disjointed and the songs so different at times. At points in the album I'd be absolutely loving the album when it hit tracks like Until My Last Breath, but then by the time I reached the end I was bored by the later half of the album. If everything was as good as the run from Until My Last Breath to Underneath I have no doubt this would be a 4.0 rated album. Taking into account the other parts and that a lot of the tracks miss the mark though, I cannot really rate the album as a whole highly.
If you're really a fan of Tarja then this is probably worth checking out and maybe owning. I mean there's some really good material here. Unfortunately, this album just doesn't keep up that level of quality throughout.
Highlights: Until My Last Breath, I Feel Immortal, Underneath, In For A Kill
Rating - 3.0/5
2. Until My Last Breath
3. I Feel Immortal
4. In For a Kill
5. Underneath
6. Little Lies
7. Rivers of Lust
8. Dark Star
9. Falling Awake
10. The Archive of Lost Dreams
11. Crimson Deep
For all intensive purposes What Lies Beneath marks Tarja's second serious solo outing or at least in the metal realm. Most people tend to forget or disregard the first classical/christmas album and consider the last, My Winter Storm, the debut. I liked that one and I've gotta say it made me feel like the talent from Nightwish went this way. That band has just lost their way.
Listening to this one it does not start on a high note at all as Anteroom Of Death is extremely awkward shifting jarringly between mellow sort of classical moments to heavier ones. This song simply does not work and I wish it didn't appear here at all. Things do get better though fairly quickly as Until My Last Breath is a perfectly soaring gothic/symphonic single that is totally infectious. Following on it's heels, I Feel Immortal is a bit more somber and took some growing on me, but I feel this one is also really solid. Nice semi-ballad with some great vocal deliveries from Tarja. In For A Kill is up next and it nicely merges a harder edge into the music while still keeping a melodic, symphonic vibe to the music and Underneath is another nice melodic number.
Up to this point the album has had a good run of 4 excellent songs, but the album takes a bit of a turn after that I must say. When you hear the hard chugging riff of Little Lies you'll know what I'm talking about. This sort of music just does not lend itself nearly as well to Tarja's voice and as such the highlights come early. Dark Star, Falling Awake, and Crimson Deep are similar with a sort of modern hard guitar sound that takes over the music and do not quite work. This sort of song dominated by distorted chugging just doesn't really work for me. I need some atmosphere at least. These songs aren't terrible, but it is a downgrade and a noticeable drop off. Other than this sound the later part of the album has 2 very light and airy ballads that are kinda forgettable.
What Lies Beneath really was sort of a confusing album to review because it is so disjointed and the songs so different at times. At points in the album I'd be absolutely loving the album when it hit tracks like Until My Last Breath, but then by the time I reached the end I was bored by the later half of the album. If everything was as good as the run from Until My Last Breath to Underneath I have no doubt this would be a 4.0 rated album. Taking into account the other parts and that a lot of the tracks miss the mark though, I cannot really rate the album as a whole highly.
If you're really a fan of Tarja then this is probably worth checking out and maybe owning. I mean there's some really good material here. Unfortunately, this album just doesn't keep up that level of quality throughout.
Highlights: Until My Last Breath, I Feel Immortal, Underneath, In For A Kill
Rating - 3.0/5
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