  
Formed in the North East of England in 2009, symphonic metal band Winter in Eden have already released an EP (At the edge of the world) in 2009 and an album (Awakening) in 2010, and are now releasing their second album, "Echoes of betrayal".
The band have a rich symphonic sound with nice warm vocals from singer Vicky Johnson.
The album has an impressive 55 minute running time - sadly some bands still persist in releasing albums that are barely over half an hour, and with 40-45 minutes being a typical album length then this album is certainly good value. It's well packaged (something some smaller bands overlook) with the CD booklet including the song lyrics as well as artwork and a photo.
Brief comments on a few of the songs.
Opening track "For the few" is a great track - opening with a gentle orchestral sound before it moves into the main part of the song, it's got a great sound and sets the standard for the rest of the album to match.
"Possession" has a little more punch to it with the guitars more prominent and the song has a slightly faster pace to it. Probably my favourite song on the album.
Next up we have three songs that are chapters 3,4 and 5 of "The awakening" (parts 1 and 2 being on the bands previous album - The Awakening). While the first two of these are standard songs, the final part (Descension) is an instrumental piece with the orchestral sounds given prominence with the keyboards. Personally I'd have made these three tracks the last ones on the album as the orchestral track is something that won't appeal to everyone so might get skipped, but more importantly I think it's a nice track to end the album on.
Unlike many symphonic metal bands, there is no attempt to go for operatic vocal parts, and instead they stay at a level that suits Vicky's voice - a similar approach to another UK band, Hanging Doll.
While there are no songs on the album that make you sit up and say "thats amazing", the whole album is still very good - this is an album that will appeal to a lot of fans of female fronted symphonic metal.
"Echoes of betrayal" is available now.
Winter in eden are:
Vicky Johnson - Vocals
Steve Johnson - Keyboards
Samuel Cull - Guitar
Steve Hauxwell - Drums
Ian Heddle - Bass
Track listing:
1. For the few
2. Possession
3. The awakening chapter III - Regret
4. The awakening chapter IV - Torment
5. The awakening chapter V - Descension
6. Trapped
7. Lies
8. Suffer in silence
9. Eyes of a child
10. What we leave behind
11. Stone cold
12. The secret room |
