The Moshville Times - Review: Eden’s Curse

[avatar =”Lara” size=”50″ align=”left” /]Eden’s Curse is a multinational melodic hard rock band that was initially started as a studio project a way back in 2006. Scottish musician Paul Logue ed forces with American vocalist Michael Eden and by the summer of the same year the line-up was completed with German guitar virtuoso Thorsten Koehne, English drummer Peter Newdeck (now replaced by John Clelland) and German keyboard player Ferdy Doernberg.

The band soon signed for AFM Records and released their self titled and critically acclaimed album in 2007. A limited edition rare EP followed Seven Deadly Sins – The Acoustic Sessions in June 2008 and The Second Coming in August 2008. After a successful run of live shows and prestigious slots the band went through some line-up changes and the release of another EP Condemned to Burn – The UK tour EP. By spring 2011 they released their third studio album Trinity, this time with Italian keyboard player Alessandro Del Vecchio.

Later in 2011 Michael Eden left the band and Italian vocalist Marco Sandron took up vocal duties with Eden’s Curse. It was short lived, it did not work out as expected and they parted ways not long after. Del Vecchio was also replaced by keyboard player Steve Williams and Serbian vocalist Nikola Mijic ed the band. With the new line-up they went on to release the fantastic Symphony of Sin in 2013 and now the double live album Live With The Curse which is out from the 13th of this month.

Live With The Curse was recorded on the 28th of November 2014 and released on the 13th of March 2015 on AFM Records. It was mixed and mastered by Dennis Ward, who has been working with the band since their early days. The cover artwork was created by artist Thomas Ewerhard (Edguy / Avantasia). Eden’s Curse are fantastic musicians and after four studio albums it was time to add a double live release to their catalogue. It was also very much desired by their loyal fan base, some of which travelled from as far as Europe and Japan to attend their concert at Glasgow’s Classic Grand, where the live album was entirely recorded. I was honoured to be invited there to photograph the event and truly enjoyed every moment of it. I had seen them live before, a few months earlier, at another Scottish venue called Ivory Blacks and suitably impressed by that performance I was really eager to attend the show and even more to hear the live album that resulted from it.

I honestly have not bought a live album in a while, I am no big fan of them, I’d rather buy the studio album and go to concerts but this effort will certainly make my portable mp3 player rotation. I guess it is always a bit more special when you are involved, however I honestly and objectively think it is a gem in its own right.

To open and present the show we were treated to a small talk by Scottish rock radio legend Tom Russell – it is after all Glasgow, the appointed home town of the band. The atmosphere of the night was perfectly captured. I am often there to see or cover live music and the quality of the sound, that night, was amazing (well, apart from the initial song which was swiftly rectified live but nonetheless kept in the final release).

All the energy, the joy, the sing-along of Eden’s Curse’s public was immortalized for you to experience it. With a running time of 100 minutes it will keep you entertained for a while. Half of the songs on Live With The Curse are here sung by Nikola Mijic but were originally performed by Michael Eden being from previous albums. It is therefore well balanced in offering songs from all the previous albums and give the fans, old and new, Nikola’s take on all the band classics. Mijic vocal range is impressive and he is certainly able to deliver live. In my opinion he is not the most exuberant front man perhaps but he is an excellent fit for Eden’s Curse.

He does justice to all their back catalogue and fronts the band like he always belonged. The opening track is the majestic “Symphony Of Sin”, followed by some serious riffing from Thorsten Koehne on the fast paced “Break The Silence”. “Masquerade Ball” from the The Second Coming is a bit heavier on guitars although retaining some melody with the layered choruses. Well, that’s what you get when you have a guitar virtuoso in the band, melodic yes but with some serious metal guitar playing here. There is a bit for everybody here with songs like “Black Widow” (it reminds me of the mighty Judas Priest), “Trinity”, “Fly Away”, “Just Like Judas”, the ballad “Fallen From Grace” and “Jerusalem Sleeps”. Time for the guitar solo (some visuals in the video below) and one of the highlights for me comes with “Time to Breathe” that finishes off the first CD of the album.

On the second CD we have “Rock Bottom” quite a classic rock anthem but my least favourite of the whole album. It’s followed by “Devil In Disguise” with more catchy choruses and soaring riffs but also fantastic keys from Steve Williams. “Wings To Fly”, “No Holy Man”, “Unbreakable”, “Judgement Day”, time to introduce the band and we move onto my favourite “Evil & Divine” (which you can enjoy on YouTube from the night), closing soon after with “Angels & Demons”. Solid performances from the whole band, from Logue and Clelland rhythmic section to Koehne shredding over Williams melodies to Mijic smooth vocal range.

To round it up you will find tracks that represents all the band career so far, well mixed and produced and a pleasing listening for fans. I really enjoyed it and I recommended it to any rock and metal fans.

Eden’s Curse proved over and over, with every new album and live event, that they are an unstoppable creative force. Even through the line-up changes their creativity has never diminished. Until the next time, onwards and upwards Eden’s Curse!

Track list:

CD One: