Leaves’ Eyes – “Njord”

Njord, a name of an Æsir God from Norse mythology, is also the name of the 2009 album of Leave’s Eyes. This is the third full length they have created. It is a demonstration of lessons learned from previous releases. Now let’s sail into this record with full force.

The cover of Njord is a picture of the band. The two new members shown are: Seven Antonopoulos (Atrocity, Opiate Of The Masses, Vanilla Ice) who plays drums and Alla Fedynitch (Eyes Of Eden, Atrocity, Enemy Of The Sun) who plays bass. Alla does not perform on Njord and just offers us her image for the art of the album. It looks like Leaves’ Eyes has difficulty holding a drummer to stay for more than one CD. Let’s hope that Seven sticks around. He is amazing.

Opening the record you hear the call from the Viking ships imaged on the album cover. Next you hear Liv Kristine’s operatic voice leading the band into the biggest battle yet, a battle to win the hearts of listeners all around the world. Leaves’ Eyes bring back their popular symphonic metal sound which is sweet but deadly. Their focus is predominantly on the keyboards which give the instrumentals a darker atmosphere. Soprano vocals are provided by Liv Kristine, occasionally being backed by her husband Alexander Krull’s growls. Their sound will cut through your ears breaking down your guard while the band seizes control of you for the next hour.

Every song on Njord is amazing, each being unique and mind blowing. All fans of symphonic metal will fall in love with this CD, for Liv Kristine’s voice, and for her alluring image on the album artwork. These tracks would make for an astounding live performance. I have witnessed Leaves’ Eyes on stage and I can promise they put on a perfect set. Fans of Tristania, Within Temptation, Theatre Of Tragedy and BlackSky will fall for Leaves’ Eyes.

Track Listing:

01. Njord
02. My Destiny
03. Emerald Island
04. Take The Devil In Me
05. Scarborough Fair
06. Through Our Veins
07. Irish Rain
08. Northbound
09. Ragnarok
10. Morgenland
11. The Holy Bond
12. Frøya’s Theme

Run Time: 55:57
Release Date: 08.26.2009

Check out the song: “My Destiny”