Longtime veterans of the symphonic metal scene, Edenbridge never really reached the levels of say, Nightwish or Within Temptation, but have nonetheless carried on with their particular version of the genre. The Great Momentum is the band’s ninth album, a testament to what has been accomplished in almost two decades of existence. Just don’t expect it to radically shift course from what has previously been done.
So the story goes, with a veteran act like Edenbridge, it’s not about re-inventing yourself with a new album this far into a career so much as tweak and refine the current sound. To that end, The Great Momentum succeeds in doing exactly that. There are some notably strong tracks, such as the opening “Shiantara,” which portrays the bombastic synths with thick riffs and Sabine Edelsbacher’s commanding vocals. Likewise, the more melodically-centered “The Moment is Now” focuses on a sugary-sweet chorus sure to grin a smile to one’s face (regardless of one’s stoic metal mentality), and the closing epic “The Greatest Gift of All” provides 12-minutes of twisting and turning symphonic metal that never becomes stale. Other ballad-esque tales “Until the End of Time” and “Only a Whiff of Life” effectively straddle the fence of emotive and cheesy, with the former being an enjoyable duet between Edelsbacher and Eric Martensson (Eclipse). Elsewhere, the sonic crunch of “The Visitor” and the cinematic and sweeping feelings of “A Turnaround in Art” stand out as added highlights.
While it may be considered by some to be ‘more of the same,’ it’s hard to truly knock an album as well composed and thought-out as The Great Momentum. The band shows no signs of letting up and the hunger to create material that stands just as tall as previous efforts is evident. There’s a reason they’ve come this fall, and symphonic metal fans can rest assured you’ll find plenty of quality here.