Tarja - What Lies Beneath

Tarja

What Lies Beneath

Atmospheric Gothic Metal/Rock

Finland

2010

Tarja aka Wine?

Ex-Nightwish vocalist Tarja Turunen is back with her second solo album „What lies beneath“. I was never a big fan of Tarja neither in Nightwish, neither in her solo career. But curiosity killed a cat again and the newest Tarja album is spining in my player. 

  

This time Tarja really delivers a surprise, cause „My Winter Storm“ were just an average album, with only 2-3 songs been well composed, and only few great vocal parts been written, when „What lies beneath“ is totally different. First of all, the songs are more mature, it shines with memorable melodies and diverse compositions, which are much better than in previous album. Take a first track „Anteroom of Death“ for example, where acapella metal band Van Canto joins Tarja and creates a great musical-type song together. Then songs like „I feel Immortal“ or „Falling Awake“ are potential hits that takes listener from the first time you hear them and shows  an emotional side of Tarja`s music.

The strongest side of the album is a that it fits a very wide range of listeners: from pop music fan to heavy metal or even opera lover. The recipe is very simple: some crunchy guitars, some ballades, then cheesy and catchy melodies with cold gothic keybords. It seems how can it be interesting and enjoyable, but somehow it catches your attention, somehow it attracts you. And the answers lies beneath the same matureness I talked at the beginning of this review. Tarja and her team becomes better songwriters with time, they manage to serve an old and unoriginal product in new fashion. 

Tarja is like a wine – It keeps better with time and never stop to impress, even if she has never impressed you before.

1.Anteroom Of Death  

2.Until My Last Breath  

3.I Feel Immortal  

4.In For a Kill  

5.Underneath  

6.Little Lies  

7.Rivers of Lust

8.Dark Star

9.Falling Awake

10.The Archive of Lost Dreams

11.Crimson Deep

Songwriting: 9
Performance: 8,5
Lyrics: 7
Originality: 7
Quality: 9,5

General: 8,5