Embodying the multinational melodic metal moniker (all five musicians hail from separate countries from Serbia and Germany to Scotland, England, and Wales), Eden’s Curse enter the established phase of their career. Following a shake up with original vocalist Michael Eden in the fall of 2011, it took a little over 18 months before securing the services of new singer Nikola Mijic, as the band also experienced a change in keyboardists with former Power Quest main man Steve Williams taking over for renowned songwriter/ engineer/ producer in demand Alessandro Del Vecchio.
Now that the proverbial lineup card is straight, let’s get onto Symphony of Sin shall we? Idle time didn’t go wasted creatively, as listeners will get 13 tracks of strong melodic metal, packed to the hilt with larger than life choruses and hooks. Stylistically, songs such as the uplifting “Evil & Divine” and guitar hero-oriented “Sign of the Cross” remind me most of the early 90’s Queensryche times with a side order of Pink Cream 69 and TNT thrown in for good measure.
Guitarist Thorsten Koehne has a firm foundation in all the European power and melodic metal tricks of the book, opening right out of the gate with Gus G meets Ronnie Le Tekro skill set in the epic title track, while being more German-centric in his riff choices and transitions for “Devil in Disguise”. Mijic’s voice is comfortable and clear – those who love Jaded Heart and David Readman from Pink Cream 69 will have no trouble handling his multi-octave, semi-bluesy resonance.
Eden’s Curse could have trimmed this down a couple of songs (“Wings to Fly” and “Where Is the Love” not really sitting well with these ears), but all in all Symphony of Sin should appeal to those who need more song-oriented melodic metal, and keep the band’s fans very satisfied.