Xandria – Kill The Sun (2003)

Kill the Sun is a debut studio album of the German symphonic metal band Xandria, released in May 2003.  I discovered the album Kill The Sun by Xandria a long time ago, and I immediately appreciated the talent of this German band. I can say that the album is quite original. Among the typical Gothic songs there are some new metal compositions, but even they fit perfectly to the album. Great vocals, magnificent guitar riffs, drum rhythms, catchy melodies – all this you can find in this album.

Five songs were already released in the demo album Kill the Sun a little bit earlier, they were posted on the Internet. After the demo album received positive reviews on the Internet, and Xandria won a lot of new fans from different countries, the band decided to start recording a studio album. The album was recorded in the winter from 2002 to 2003 in two German studios. The recording of the instrumental part was at the Principal Studios in Münster and it took a week. After that, the band recorded vocal part in DRP studio, which is located in Bochum. The album was mixed in a small studio Base 5 Studio located in Hanover.  The album reached 98 position in German charts. In addition to some European countries, the album was also released in Brazil.

Kill the Sun is a German response to Nightwish. But, to be honest, they are still far from the legendary Finns, but they have great potential. Clearly, the unique combination of synths and vocals makes the band recognizable among many others, performing in this style. In comparison with other modern bands you can find disadvantages and advantages of the album. The band created something like Nightwish, only without male vocals and with a lot of keyboard parts. From the beginning to the end of the album, you can hear lyrical songs, as was the similarity with Amartia and Krypteria. Thus, taking from everyone a little, Xandria didn’t surprised me a lot.  I can not but mention Lisa’s vocal range. Her voice fits well to the music. But the band lacks depth of sounding and a certain coherence of the songs. Her voice conveys the atmosphere of fragility and defenseless of bright feelings in a cold and frighteningly huge world. The atmosphere is recreated very realistically, but the album as a whole leaves the impression of ordinary work. It is easy to identify hits in this album.  I mean such songs as Kill The Sun, Mermaids and Isis/Osiris.

So, just to summarise, the album is rather good, melodies are catchy, the potential of the group is very huge. I would recommend it to fans of symphonic metal.