DARK SARAH - Behind The Black Veil

May 20, 2015, 8 years ago

(Inner Wound Recordings)

Kelley Simms

Rating: 7.5

review heavy metal dark sarah

DARK SARAH - Behind The Black Veil

Dark Sarah is the new project from Finnish vocalist Heidi Parviainen (ex-Amberian Dawn), who held that vocal spot from 2006 to 2012 and recorded four full-length albums with the band. On Behind The Black Veil, Ms. Parviainen injects her soaring soprano vocals into huge, cinematic musical soundscapes. It’s a dark concept album presented in three episodes which follows the story’s character, Sarah, who is dealing with many emotional scars. CD-opener, “Save Me”, which was the catalyst for the album’s storyline and Dark Sarah’s inception, follows the cinematic metal framework Parviainen set out to create. It’s not the most explosive opening track, but it possesses a certain charm nonetheless. Sarah is on an emotional roller coaster enduring numerous twists and turns throughout the record’s 63 minutes.

The dazzling duet between Parviainen and guest vocalist Manualla Kraller (ex-Xandria) on “Memories Fall” is one of the highlights of the album, as is the duet featuring Tony Kakko (Sonata Arctica) on the majestic “Light In You”. The production on Behind The Black Veil, handled by Mikko P. Mustonen, is enormous. Its pristine and crystal clear sound shines through immensely, but it’s also very punchy, especially when the guitars are aggressively cutting through the bombastic orchestral samples (“Violent Roses” and “Fortress”). On the surface, Dark Sarah sounds like a minor league version of Nightwish. It’s a fair assumption, given the band’s use of female-fronted histrionics set to symphonic bombast. However, Ms. Parviainen likes to think more outside the box and pushes the boundaries within the symphonic metal genre than her fellow Finn megastars. Fans of this genre will surely eat up Behind The Black Veil, as it’s a pretty impressive endeavor.



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