Musically, this twelve-track offering is solid, mixing heavy riffs and precision drumming with orchestral arrangements. It’s intelligent and well crafted, combining Hard Rock, Goth and Symphonic Metal. Xandria’s Sacrificium falls into a very niche market in the broad heavy metal spectrum, that often times is overlooked for the more aggression driven onslaught.
The anger management subgenre aside, all styles of heavy metal tend to offer some kind of an edge and Xandria achieves that with their sexy, melodic presence.
By definition alone, this style of metal requires female operatic vocals and Xandria has always exemplified this with their revolving door of front women. The new, easy-on-the-eyes singer for their 6th studio effort is Ex Libris singer, Dianne van Giersbergen. The Dutch Soprano has undeniable talent and an impressive voice that is allowed to shine on every track. The only downside is and perhaps it’s because this is their first album together, there is a certain je ne sais quoi lacking. Though to their defense it is not something they could have fixed. If they keep this singer around, a familiarity will grow in the group and more chances will be taken. The connection of the other band members is evident from start to finish and explains the impressive sound.
Despite all these boasting positives, this isn’t a contender for album of the year. They haven’t reinvented the wheel with Sacrificium, or even the style of metal they do. It is formulaic; doing exactly what it is expected to do, right on cue. But sometimes that isn’t a bad thing, as not every effort needs to be groundbreaking. Just look at Motorhead. When Lemmy releases a new album fans know exactly what they are going to get and they love it. Music is an escape, sometimes it is just there to enjoy and Sacrificium makes it easy for fans to do that. Whether it will bring new followers to the party is left to be seen. It doesn’t have the same marketable appeal as Goth metal band Lacuna Coil and you’re not about to hear this group in regular rotation on the radio, so it is definitely something that can easily be forgotten by the end of the year. But for those that are into it, they will enjoy it immensely.
Album highlights include “Dreamkeeper” and “Sacrificium.”
Ryan Andrews, HMS
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