Hello Metal-Temple. EDENBRIDGE have been around for a while now, delivering a slew of album since their debut in 1998. this February they are releasing their 9^th studio album "The Great Momentum", and they are looking more solid than ever.

Taking their place in the Symphonic Power Metal sub-genre among the likes of NIGHTWISH and EPICA (although they have no reason to be envious of the 2) EDENBRIDGE delivers a great performance in this album and they do try their best to stand out, and Sabine's vocal work is in great part responsible for this.

The album opens on "Shiantara", which is a great introduction to the atmosphere of EDENBRIDGE and features massive guitar solos along with a great drum track that throw you right into the thick of things before leading to "The Die Is Not Cast", which is similar, but with a faster pace and some amazing keyboard solos.

The album is effectively divided into two types of songs; "The Moment Is Now", "The Visitor" and "Return To Grace" are speedier, and more aggressive but yet gentle and symphonic; while "Until The End of Time", "Only A Whiff Of Life" and "The Greatest Gift Of All" are more acoustic, mellow and emotional. Both work well with the selection of instruments and the vocal track of Sabine is exactly what you need on every song.

Talking about "The Greatest Gift Of All", that song is an impressive 12-minute piece that can be compared to some of the greatest song by NIGHTWISH during the Tarja years. The song writing in this piece is stunning.

Whilst the album is very well rounded, the only things that bothered me is that it feels like it's been done before. It doesn't really stand out even though they tried their best. It is still worth picking up, but don't expect to be blasted away with some new kind of Symphonic Metal. It is however, a very strong statement that EDENBRIDGE is still here.