TIGERSCLAW – Princess Of The Dark

Tigersclaw’s Princess Of The Dark begins with the unaccompanied voice of Elena Minina—smart move as her elegant yet powerful vocals are easily the most distinctive aspect of the album, which will appeal to anyone who is a fan of Lacuna Coil, Nightwish, or is eagerly awaiting the next Evanescence album (Tigersclaw has a video cover of “My Immortal” on their Facebook page).  The problem is that none of the individual songs on Princess Of The Dark leap out at the listener with the punch of any of those aforementioned bands’ best tunes.

The opener “World Of The Dead” comes close, and “Storm Of Steel” opens with a promising heavy riff, but is quickly pushed to the back of the mix once the vocals kick in. The issue with a great deal of Symphonic Metal is that it sounds like all the edges are smoothed off, whereas the greats of the subgenre—Ayreon, Therion—have elements that keep the music unpredictable and also absolutely thrilling live. Elena’s vocals are beautiful throughout, but are multi-tracked through most of the album, and the band is really just drummer Ralf Neumann and talented multi-instrumentalist Alexander Baier. There’s zero friction to be found on Princess Of The Dark; none of the grit that typically gives Metal its power and edge. There aren’t even any screams on the song “Screams”.

That lack of friction, of course, might be the point. Princess Of The Dark sounds great, the music is technically well-crafted and Elena’s voice elevates it above the pack, but the album is unlikely to fully engage your heart, mind, or adrenal glands. Enjoyable, but not transformative.

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