THE DARK ELEMENT
SONGS THE NIGHT SINGS
Frontiers Music Srl
Release: November 8, 2019
The Dark Element is a musical project fronted by vocalist Anette Olzon, together with Finnish guitarist and songwriter Jani Liimatainen. Since word of this project got out, fans have been frothing at the mouth with anticipation for it’s arrival. And no wonder considering the talent involved! Anette is widely known for being the immaculate voice on the hit albums from Nightwish, “Dark Passion Play” and “Imaginaerum”.
Jani has recently been busy in Cain's Offering alongside Stratovarius singer Timo Kotipelto, but left a deep mark on the minds of all power metal fans thanks to his time in Sonata Arctica.
The resulting debut album released in November 2017 took no time to take by storm all streaming platforms and conquer the sales charts everywhere.
The new album entitled “Songs The Night Sings” takes off where the previous record left, with immaculate vocals from Anette Olzon and fabulous anthems written by Jani!
Tracklist:
Not Your Monster
Songs The Night Sings
When It All Comes Down
Silence Between The Words
Pills On My Pillow
To Whatever End
The Pallbearer Walks Alone
Get Out Of My Head
If I Had A Heart
You Will Learn
I Have To Go
Jani says: "I think the album is very heavy, but still hyper melodic, and this time we are even exploring new musical territories we didn't on the previous album. Now that me and Anette have one album together under our belts, we have found the style we want to pursue and also the ideal way of working together. Given all this, I think it's safe to say that with the next album you'll get even more of what made the first album so good, only it's going to be bigger, better and bolder!"
The Dark Element made its live debut in June 2018 at the Sweden Rock Festival in Sölvesborg, Sweden. The band also completed a short Japanese tour and performed at the Frontiers Rock Sweden festival in October at Fryshuset Klubben in Stockholm. Get ready to enjoy even more shows soon! (Fingers crossed for a Dutch show!)
Since the first single in 2017 from The Dark Element I was hooked. It is still one of the CD’s I listen to most on a daily basis. I can’t believe the interview I did with Anette is already two years old. When word got out about ‘’Songs The Night Sings’’, I couldn’t be more excited! ‘’Not Your Monster’’ is a fantastic opening track, just as bombastic as I’m used to from the previous record. The second track is the first single that got released from this album, it carries the same title: ‘’Songs The Night Sings’’. The track is incredibly catchy and just simply makes me want to dance around while sitting on my desk chair. I think that says enough. This is a track I would send to people that ask me for new music recommendations. ‘’When It All Comes Down’’ is not as uptempo as other tracks from The Dark Element, but that does not make it less powerful in this case. I love the melody, and the symphonic elements are amazing.
Fourth track, ‘’Silence Between The Words’’ has a bit of eighties influences it seems. But if you combine those with some good Scandinavian metal guitars you get a product that is very popular nowadays. The track itself sounds very familiar but I can not exactly tell you why, probably it is the chord progression. For some reason my head connects this track to ‘’Edema Ruh’’ from Nightwish latest album ‘’Endless Forms Most Beautiful’’. But I’m not going to comment on that anymore than just this observation. ‘’Pills On My Pillow’’ is a bit more electronic than symphonic but honestly, I love this direction. Lately my music taste has drifted away a bit from symphonic anyway, so this direction is more than welcome to me. I get some small Disney vibes from ‘’To Whatever End’’, the track is beautiful yet mysterious. I love how the track gradually becomes heavier and louder.
The second single that got released from the album, ‘’The Pallbearer Walks Alone’’, is up next as the seventh track. ‘’The Pallbearer Walks Alone’’ is another track I would recommend to literally anyone. It is ‘’classic’’ The Dark Element, bombastic, dynamic and melodic. This song features a superb guitar solo by Jani by the way, it can not be left unsaid. Right from the beginning, ‘’Get Out Of My Head’’ sounds a bit emptier and different than the previous tracks. There is a big chance this is a track that has to grow on me and turn into one of my favourite tracks from the entire album later. But for now, I’m not sure how I feel about it. I appreciate the diversity and experimentation though! ‘’If I Had A Heart’’ is a good track but for Dark Element standards a bit (dare I say) mediocre. However ‘’You Will Learn’’, is an amazing track with a very good message. Even though the message has been said before, it is good to have a reminder sometimes. ‘’I Have To Go’’ is a track that makes me wonder why it is there in the first place. Having listened to it a few times, I just can not place it. It is like the album started off quite heavy, 100% metal with ‘’Not Your Monster’’, and it gradually, track by track became a softer album. It is interesting, but… why? Not a bad track definitely, but now I’m very curious for the reason behind it.
I absolutely love this new album from The Dark Element. However the last time around I felt like I liked a lot more tracks than I do now. But like I said before, maybe they are an acquired taste, and do I have to listen to them more to ‘’understand’’ and appreciate them better. I would love to hear the thoughts behind tracks like ‘’Get Out Of My Head’’, ‘’If I Had A Heart’’ and ‘’I Have To Go’’. There are undoubtedly big stories behind these tracks and I hope to find some information about them soon, it will probably help me like them better as well. Overall the album is amazing of course, The Dark Element has all the elements (get it?) that I love: a LOT of catchy melodies, awesome guitar solos, lovely vocals and that bombastic sound that most of us in the scene appreciate.
Rating: 8/10
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By Tamar
Line-up:
Anette Olzon - Vocals
Jani Liimatainen - Guitars, keyboards, programming
Jonas Kuhlberg - Bass
Rolf Pilve - Drums
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