Dark Sarah - The Golden Moth review

The Golden Moth is the third album, closing the first trilogy, of Dark Sarah. It began with a dark fairytale with a dark alter-ego born out of jealousy and hate in Behind the Black Veil. Next up was The Puzzle; an exciting quest trough the underworld where previously mentioned alter-ego was banished to. This fairytale has grown in the meanwhile into a true epic fantasy, and The Golden Moth is its Grand Finale. And with grand I mean Grand. Don’t tell… but when I played this album for the first time I was sobbing like a child… I am indeed the type of girl that can bawl her eyes out with for example Disney movies but this was really something else…
Now that confession is out of my system, let’s see if I can make an attempt to give my personal album of the year a professional review!

Staring in this fantastic tale: mastermind behind it all, Heidi Parviainen as Dark Sarah and JP Leppäluoto as Dragon. We have encountered this dragon already in the previous album, where he was the keeper of a key that Sarah needed to escape the underworld. He has followed her to the Upper World, the world of the Gods, to confront said Gods on the fact that he doesn’t have wings anymore.
The two enemies now form a team in a journey through a desert world, to the island in the sky where the Gods – played by Marco Hietala (Nightwish/Tarot) and Zuberoa Aznarez (Diabulus in Musica) - reside.

The journey begins with Desert Rose, a short intro that paints the image of the scorching desert in front of your eyes. Dark Sarah’s first calling card is being played; de ability to display lively scenes with just music. You really see it all play out in your head.
Tresspasser follows, that has been out on youtube for a while already. The Dragon and Sarah find each other in the desert and realize they need each other to survive. Their struggle is perfectly scored by a moving chorus and exciting verses.

And as for Heidi, I keep on saying it; What A Voice! Powerful yet fluttering like a bird, on this album she gives her best vocal performance yet!

Wheel is delightfully innovative exotic and adventurous with an addicting chorus. My Beautiful Enemy is the first of three goosebumps-inducing semi ballads on this album. The scene where both Dragon and Sarah let go of their dark sides and it almost becomes a love story. Heidi’s gifts of storytelling shines off every single note and the emotions in the chorus are composed superbly.
The Dragon’s backstory is revealed in I Once Had Wings. This one starts of remarkably folk-ish with an accordion – the contribution of Netta Skog (Ensiferum) who is casted as ‘Fortune Teller’- but as soon as Sarah enters the stage with her comforting words this song becomes quite the emotional rollercoaster.

After a few songs of character building the story now really takes off. The two heroes encounter a bunch of pirates, where they somehow manage to commandeer an airship from in the song Pirates. A cute little phrase of dialogue reminds the listener of the musical-like aspects of Dark Sarah, and adds just a pinch of extra personality to the characters. A pounding chorus underlines the tension in this scene in a sublime way.
Eventually they sail through the air on their stolen ship and an image like that deserves a fitting soundtrack. Sky Sailing is heartwarmingly euphoric and you just have to close your eyes to feel the wind in your hair while you race through the sky on a steampunk-like vessel over a desert landscape towards horizon and stars.

I picture a scene out of Pirates of the Caribbean part 3 while listening to Wish, the second semi-ballad. The Black Pearl that eerily glides over a mirror-like sea in Davy Jones’ locker under a blanket of stars. Only this time the sea is replaced by white fluffy clouds. Sarah sighs; “I can almost catch a star...”
The Dragon is moping, wishing he could still fly. Sarah wishes his wings back and the next moment the orchestra paints a picture of a dragon that triumphantly soars through the night sky with Sarah on his back, on their way to the island of the Gods.

They don’t get a warm welcome from the Gods though. The Gods Speak is full of chaos and dread. Music wise really the colossus of the album.
Marco and Zuberoa – a.k.a. White Beard and The Iron Mask – show no mercy and the scene ends with a white spear pointed at our heroes.
I mostly hate spoilers, so you are not going to get any more of the story from me. Let’s say that what comes next is a heartbreaking plot twist. But as all things in the universe, there is no ying without yang.
The moral of the trilogy: light cannot live without darkness, and darkness cannot live without light. A hard lesson for our protagonists, that results in a bittersweet but truly beautiful ending.

Promise draws the conclusion of this lesson, and final song The Golden Moth is the acceptance of this fate.  The song mostly responsible for my reaction described in the first paragraph…
The Gate of Time turns the final page of this tale, read to you by the Dragon. And with that, the adventures of Dark Sarah have come to an end... from this perspective at least! Heidi Parviainen has given multiple hints already that more stories are to come.
I can’t wait what she has in store for us next... it will take a huge amount of effort to top this album!
But for now, nothing less than a standing ovation for The Golden Moth. Bravo!!! 

Temperance - Of Jupiter and Moons album review.

From their first album on I have followed Temperance and saw them shoot towards new highs with great speed, as they have produced three fantastic albums and a damn good live album. Now we have reached the point where the band has replaced half their line-up. It began already with the departure of drummer Giulio Capone in 2017. Now frontlady Chiara Tricarico has stepped aside as well, making way for Alessia Scolletti, second vocalist Michele Guaitoli was added too and before you know it, a band I know well is looking back at me with new faces. It takes some getting used to; how many people can you replace while still remaining the same band? (Especially when the ex-members were also fellow composers). It’s up to guitar player Marco Pastorino and bassist Liuk Abbott (formally known as Luca Negro – yes I was confused too) to keep the core. Judging their new album Of Jupiter and Moons, they succeed in that damn well!

Like we are accustomed now, you continue to hear right of the bat in each song which band we are dealing with. Temperance hasn’t changed at all when it comes to their music – in a good manner! The things that have changed however are all improvements. Chiara was and is a phenomenal singer but she could sound a bit harsh at times; a minor fault that is unfamiliar to Alessia’s more relaxed voice, but doesn’t fail to impress when it comes to the power that has always been the calling card of Temperance’s vocal performances.
The first single that the band presented from this album is title track Of Jupiter and Moons, and it’s especially this track that gives a good introduction to both the general idea of the album as second vocalist Michele Guaitoli, who mostly shines as the velvet counterpart of Marco’s gravely throat. So now, Temperance has three vocalists who make each vocal category their own. Alessia front and center with her powerful voice, Michele beside her, filling the role of the finer male vocals, and Marco providing the raw edges.

So now Temperance has a whole load of stuff to offer for this album. Beside a vocal mini-army they now throw in everything they have in the musical department. With their last album, The Earth Embraces Us Al, I already spoke of how they gave it all they had already, but it still left room for another bar-raise. They have certainly headed that challenge. They really give it everything and all this time plus thrice more and the result is an album as an impenetrable wall of creativity that comes blowing at you. Every song is filled to the brim, and that can become a bit overwhelming at first. Giving everything 110% sounds like a good plan, but I wonder if it is still necessary? Temperance is a typical example of a band that could produce wonderful music without all the extra frills, but are still convinced they need it all and more is therefore better. They have proved themselves already, but still every chance to turn things up another notch is taken with passion. There are exuberant vocals galore, technical challenging solo’s, lightning speed drums, a heap of new sounds (like a Hammond organ in The Art of Believing – put there because why the heck not I guess. Flashbacks go to previous album that contained some spontaneous saxophone parts, also because why the heck not.) On top of that everything is given a rich layer of orchestrations. Though all this is their clear positive selling point, I would like to see what they would do if they were one day going to follow the philosophy Less Is More.  I think they would surprise themselves and the fans as well.

Still, all that drama produces some damn fine moments, especially the ballad Empires and Men. Almost shed a tear on that one. Finale of the album – Daruma’s Eyes (part 1) is again a showcase of talent in the vain of previous epics like The Restless Ride and The Fourth Season that can only gain value overtime, but the bulk of the album is still a variegated collection of songs that offer so much good things that going over them a few times is really recommended. Knowing me when it comes to Temperance’s music, I will get opportunities a plenty for that!