Review by illusionist for Everdawn - Cleopatra (2021)
The Sun is shining over my Alexandria... Oh Cleopatra, You'll Live Forever
Symphonic Metal with operatic female vocals has become a popular and increasingly crowded niche in the last decade. It has also never really been my cup of tea. When I heard about this new Everdawn project, however, with names such as Dan Swanö (Edge of Sanity), Thomas Vikström (Therion), and Mike LePond (Symphony X) involved - and a cover featuring one of my favorite historical figures - I was intrigued enough to give Cleopatra a shot.
While I'm no expert in this sub-sub-genre, it's hard for me to image modern female-fronted Symphonic Metal getting much better. The immediate memorability and quality of this release outshines anything I've heard from the likes of Xandria, aside from maybe an Epica song here or there. Catchy anthemic choruses, impeccably sung with operatic highs and sultry lows... customarily wonderful Swanö production, all instruments given depth and interesting parts to shine... Especially the guitars. This is NOT one of those symphonic/operatic albums where the "metal" instrumentation is neutered.
While the brilliant singer, Alina Gavrilenko, brings the songs to life, what truly makes Everdawn stand out is the songwriting and variation within and between songs. Albums with operatic vocals can get monotonous, but this one never really does! The first half of the album contains the best material, rolling from strength to strength with the infectiously fun and eastern-inflected "Stranded In Bangalore", the delightful male-female duet ballad "Your Majesty Sadness", and the powerful, catchy and mysterious chorus of "Infinity Divine".
By far my favorite song here, however, is the title track "Cleopatra" - a true 5/5 keeper. After initially grabbing your attention with some speedy riffs/keys and an epic Power Metal chorus, the song then slows you down for a guitar solo dripping with emotion. The way the song then unfolds, building the energy back up with the guitars and crescendoing into a new climax vocal part, is executed perfectly... a treat for the ears no matter how many times you listen to it. You'll be singing along to the ending repeating lines with a big 'ole grin on your face. OH CLEOPATRAAA...
The second half of the album does see the level drop a bit, but that's only because the level of the first five or six tracks was so high. The remaining songs are all at least "good", and are broken up nicely by the brief but heavy instrumental "Toledo 712 AD".
Altogether, this is an exemplary debut out of New Jersey and an early highlight of 2021!