Xandria – India (2005)
India is the third studio album of the German symphonic metal band Xandria. In comparison with the previous work of the band, India has more different musical ideas, and the sound is more powerful and dynamic. Also, reviewers noted that this album is one of the most interesting one in Gothic metal. The recording of the new album was with some breaks, which were necessary for the musicians to write some songs. The album was recorded from December 2004 to June 2005. The album was released on August 22, 2005 and reached the 30th position in the German charts. The album’s name is allegorical in nature, the band used India and Columbus as symbols of the life and the men’s destiny.
On their previous album Ravenheart Xandria proven to be an interesting and promising band, but the undoubted hits on it were near a lot of ordinary songs, which prevent to call the album truly successful. But the musicians have improved the situation with their next album India. Yes, on this album you will not find anything new, it was created with a view to the commercial success, but it does not spoil the music. Here you can enjoy high-quality symphonic gothic metal with some elements of power metal and oriental motifs. At this time, the material turned out to be rather successful, with lots of potential hits – such compositions as Now & Forever, Widescreen, Like A Rose On The Grave Of Love, Winterhearted became a worthy completion of band heritage. On this album you can hear different melodies, catchy riffs and beautiful vocals; guitar solos can not be called a very technical, but for this kind of music the very fact of their existence is already an advantage. Honestly speaking, it is not a masterpiece, but it is a quite good release, whereby Xandria finally took a worthy place among the representatives of this genre.
Initially, this band reminded me Within Temptation, but they can not offer anything outstanding, but Xandria did not want to stop. Some people guess that Xandria will be as popular as Nightwish, and they really could become their direct competitors if the vocalist would have broader diapason of her voice. It can not be said that Xandria have reached some kind of progress in their style, but in some places the band sounds extremely well. A really beautiful vocal, surprisingly different from the same Nightwish or Within Temptation, made the large contribution. Xandria moved forward in their creative work, finally changing their joyful rock and roll mood to much more serious atmosphere, even a bit gloomy, becoming much more interesting than before.