I came into this with high hopes, seeing an opportunity to starts off 2018 on an amazing Symphonic Metal note! But tragically, Alexander Krull's recent path of destruction continues. After dismissing Liv Kristine in April 2016 and then talking endless shit about her in the Facebook comments while simultaneously berating fans (these comments have since been deleted), LEAVES' EYES are back with a brand new album that feels more contrite and obligatory than artistically inspired; but that tends to happen when you fire the heart and soul of your band with no reasonable explanation.

So why is this specifically Alexander Krull's path of destruction? Because he is about the only thing that is currently going wrong with the band, and it's going very wrong. Aside from him no doubt being to blame for Kristine's termination, his harsh vocals on the new album are just about the worst vocals I've heard this year - both from a performance and production standpoint. But that's not even the issue. The issue is the lazy artistic direction and inability to craft a sound that would move the band into the future, which is no doubt a product of them forcing a release only a year and a half after swapping out singers.

On their newest full-length effort, "Signs Of The Dragonhead" (to be released on January 12^th via AFM records), the band is forced to resort to generic songwriting and concepts, muddling it down in a sound that belongs in 2010. Is it specifically terrible? No, they're frankly too talented as musicians (most of them) to release something terrible. It's just not good...at all. And when you go through a PR crisis as bad as firing Liv Kristine, you need to come back swinging with something truly great. That was the expectation for the band, and it was not met.

The frustrating part is that beneath that layer of bullshit we actually hear some good musical ideas and excellent performances from talented musicians, but it's all for nothing when the ultimate summation of the album is a sound and tired Vikings/Nordic concept that we have seen endless times before from other bands (and even LEAVES' EYES themselves), and done a lot better than in "Signs of the Dragonhead".

Nevertheless, despite everything, LEAVES' EYES are doing some things right. Their new vocalist Elina Siirala is an absolute delight, and their current touring bassist Gijs Coolen injects a fresh and bold new sound into their style. When I saw LEAVES' EYES open for SONATA ARCTICA in November 2016, Coolen and Siirala were the highlights of the performance.

The album starts off on a rough note. Now I will say that things improve in spots as we get further in, but to start off your first two tracks on horrible footing is never where you want to be. Opener and title track "Signs of the Dragonhead" begins with a painfully expected and typical Melodic/Symphonic intro that features a choir singing a discount XANDRIA-caliber melody. XANDRIA themselves are already a discount Metal band (no offense, it's true), so that is not good. After that, a desperately generic Symphonic Metal sound that permeates through the entire album begins.

I love Symphonic Metal - Nightwish introduced me to Metal - but an inherent and defining attribute of the genre is doing something different and finding new ways to expand and grow your sound. "Signs of the Dragonhead" is trapped in 2010, and it is all I am able to hear. To Siirala's credit, she is filling in admirably. The band's current woes are not her fault (she in fact may be the only thing saving them), but the absence of Kristine's artistic influence is too horrible to overlook.

Also, what the fuck is happening with Alexander Krull's harsh vocals? We hear it right away in the beginning and it never changes throughout the album. The vocals are mixed poorly, performed poorly, are uninspired and awfully written, and we really don't get that much of them...which I guess ends up being for the best. This is disappointing. I am critical of Krull now for what he's done to destroy this band, but historically I have enjoyed his vocals and saw them as an important part of LEAVES' EYES. But they're getting worse, they're forced, and they're actively hurting this album.

Track 3 "Like A Mountain" sees some interesting and borderline epic guitar riffs in the first minute that acutely blend in with the choir and orchestra, for a fleeting moment it almost gave me hope; unfortunately after that it devolves back into the generic and uninspired muck.

Interestingly enough, tracks 4 and 5, "Jomsberg" and "Voelva" are the most Folk and hands down the best tracks on the album. Why? Because they move in a more unique path that we have not heard from LEAVES' EYES (so much) before. They're still rather generic, but the melodies are driven by a Gaelic folk Metal sound that reminds me a lot of ELUVEITIE. It's beautiful, epic, and we do see the best vocals from Krull thus far. It was a relief to hear middle-of-the-album tracks elevate beyond the rest of the album. At this point, we certainly needed something.

Album closer "Waves of Euphoria" puts a cap on what is ultimately a forgettable release from LEAVES' EYES. They try to finish it on an epic note - the song is 8 minutes long and starts off with a rather beautiful melodic intro with fantastic vocals from Siirala - before launching into some of the heavier and more Power Metal-inspired instrumentation, but at it's best it is still derivative and unoriginal. This album cannot escape itself.

All in all, "Signs of the Dragonhead" is a forced release from a band that fucked up royally when it got rid of Liv Kristine and now doesn't know what to do with itself. We get that you have a new singer, but don't do her the disservice of releasing a new album only a year and some change after axing Liv Kristine for the sake of trying to force the future; things have to evolve naturally. They should have given the band time to breathe and recollect itself, and put some real time and effort into an album that could actually be something. Yet instead it is plagued by uninspired songwriting, poor production value, and Alexander Krull obviously not giving a shit. The band needs an overhaul creatively, as it is currently misusing Siirala and the other instrumentalists who are being forced to waste their talents on bad music.

That being said, the talent is obviously there in the instrumentalists and Siirala. LEAVES' EYES has plenty of footing to bounce back and release a killer album with the new and updated crew. I hope that they first of all make touring bassist Coolen a permanent member, take a break from releasing albums for a couple of years, and most importantly forget that "Sign of the Dragonhead" ever happened.