Ugh, man this is a hard one. Sometimes there's no easy call on exactly how good an album is. This is a major reason why Gothic / Symphonic Metal is such a tricky genre. Sometimes you get amazing bands like NIGHTWISH or EPICA that even the most masculine Metal junkies can appreciate because of its cool dramatic properties. Other times you get something like WHISPERING WOODS; which to me sounds like something you would expect some chick in a black dress listening to while she's lighting candles and writing some overly metaphorical Haiku about mankind's cruelty toward "mother earth" or something like that... Y'know, just for example.

Quite frankly; it's very hard to just say that the music wasn't good, but I was damn close to turning it off halfway through because it was so fucking boring. I mean, the music is very dense, well written, and well performed. I just had a hell of a time listening to it because it was so... un-Metal. Not to sound closed-minded, but I do expect even Symphonic Metal to sound like Metal sometimes. I would say that less than half this album even features electric guitars, and what riffs they do have are nothing memorable.

The music is mostly focused on the unintelligible singing of vocalist Alexandra Burcă, the excessive flute playing by Cătălina Popa, and the atmospheric synths of keyboardist (and the band's resident hottie) Cora Miron. The rest of the band (all the dudes) are hardly noticeable with the only exception being the guitar work by Doru Căilean who showcases some great playing, but is so scarcely featured that this sounds very little like metal, or even rock, at all. They are clearly all very talented musicians, but I just found the overall album to be boring and forgettable.

I will say that it had its moments such as the album's title track "Fairy Woods" and the closing song "Death Of A Beautiful", which, as being the best of the bunch; are still nothing I found myself enjoying very much. Oddly enough; the best song on the album in my opinion was their cover of DARKWELL's "Realm Of Darkness", mostly because I could actually understand parts of the lyrics.

I really can't, in good reviewership, give this album less than 5 out of 10; because I know that this band has a target audience who would consider this album to be an absolute treasure. However, I (and I believe many other Metalheads) am clearly not part of that target audience, and can't go any higher either. All I can suggest is to go to their Myspace page, and check out a few tracks. If you find yourself enjoying it; then this record belongs on your buy list. If not, don't bother. I swear that damn flute isn't leaving my brain for days now.