Year : 2015
Style : Symphonic Metal , Female Vocals
Country : Canada
Audio : 320 kbps + all scans
Size : 165 mb
Bio:
From the coast of British Columbia, Canada, auburn-haired symphonic metal artist LEAH is drawing attention from all over the globe. Drawing from Celtic and world music influences such as Clannad and Enya to European symphonic and progressive metal influences, LEAH creates something magical and refreshing. Her debut self-released album "Of Earth & Angels" received international critical acclaim, including landing on "The Best Symphonic Metal Album" Metalstorm Awards for 2012. Leah has always possessed a firm sense of her identity and avoided any cliché that would define her by society’s expectations.She began singing during her early teenage years, and experimented until she found her unique voice. Upon discovering Celtic music and European symphonic metal, Leah realized she was home; these were the genres that resonated with her soul. Songwriting followed thereafter as Leah found comfort and strength in her musical self-expression. Leah’s hypnotizing voice has drawn comparisons to Enya, Delain, and Loreena McKennitt as she can elegantly slip between the soothingly ethereal, the grippingly powerful, and lyrical folk styles with fluid ease.Her music is equally diverse. Braiding a hypnotising fusion of celestial vocals and sparkling strings, rippling piano, galloping drums and sharp guitar work, she leads her listeners on a passionate journey through haunting sonic landscapes. Her poetic lyrics draw from the inkwells of fantasy, passion, tragedy, and folklore, telling stories that are as arrestingly beautiful as the music. It is not by mere fancy or chance that Leah’s music has a medieval flavor and Celtic overtones: Leah has Irish and Scottish blood in her veins and her heritage can be traced back to the ancient highlands of the British Isles. Innovating with her creative imagination, experience, and her Gaelic ancestry, Leah crafted songs that would eventually be recorded for her first album, Of Earth and Angels.Given Leah’s streak of rugged individualism, it should be no surprise that she recorded and produced her first album under her own independent label, Ex Cathedra Records. Lyrically, the album blended earthly tales of struggle with the inspiration of angelic folklore. It also defined Leah’s unique sound: a dichotomy of seraphic melody and symphonic metal, steeped in Celtic influences.The road was not easy, however. As a young mother committed to raising and educating her children at home, Of Earth and Angels was two years in the making from start to finish. However, the long journey was worth it. Released in June of 2012, Of Earth and Angels was an immediate success as the reaction from both the listeners and the media was universally positive. Fueled only by word of mouth and social media, listeners became enamored with the auburn-haired singer and her musical vision. Though Leah did not have any major-label support to promote her album, her grass-roots popularity spread the earth like wildfire.Within months, Leah transitioned from an untested newcomer to an internationally acclaimed artist. However, this meteoric success also plunged her into the turbulent atmosphere of the metal world. She found herself on unfamiliar terrain as her homegrown music faced professional critics, industry insiders, and the global scrutiny of symphonic metal fans who compared Leah’s music to long-established artists. Yet, like gold tested by fire, Leah emerged with validated purity: Of Earth and Angels earned multiple awards, coveted placement on many “Best Of the Year” lists, critical acclaim by reviewers, airplay by radio stations, and a massive international following of devoted fans.Not one to close the creative spigot for too long, Leah recorded a three-track EP in time for Christmas, 2012, entitled Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence. This EP interpreted three traditional Christmas carols in symphonic metal form.During the long months of 2013, Leah returned to the songwriting table and composed a new EP called Otherworld. This EP further explores the Celtic tones of Of Earth and Angels, combining ethereal vocals with a balanced mix of hypnotically peaceful melodies and galloping rockers that transports the listener to a prior era. Each song has a poignant story to tell, ranging from issues of loss, struggle, and aspiration. Otherworld also marks the first time Leah has collaborated with a guest vocalist. The legendary Eric Peterson of Testament and DragonLord provided his signature vocals on one track, “Dreamland.” The EP was further enriched by the talented music producer Christian “Moschus” Moos at Spacelab Studios and the famed MA. Jan “Örkki” Yrlund of Darkgrove Design, who produced the stunning album art.In a time when the symphonic metal world is overpopulated by homogeneous newcomers and formulaic musical recipes, Leah is a fresh Irish Sea breeze of originality that captures the listener’s attention, enchants the heart and electrifies the imagination. She continues her songwriting, remains in touch with her fan base, and looks forward to musical projects in the future. Leah is not about to rest: her story has just begun!
Album:
Leah‘s new album Kings & Queens is the sophomore album of Canadian vocalist and songwriter Leah McHenry, her music and voice has been compared with Enya, which has resulted on her to be called the ‘Metal Enya‘ because of her use of celtic music and symphonic metal. Kings & Queens is an elaborated record that not only features Leah‘s extraordinary voice, but also it showcases an array of interesting collaborators like Timo Sommers (Delain/Vengeance) who handle all the guitars & the production of the album, Sander Zoer (ex-Delain) drums, and Barend Courbois (Blind Guardian) on bass guitar.Kings & Queens kicks off with Arcadia, an amazing song that sets up the tone of the album as the contrast between monk chants and guitar riffs are just flawless, the power of Leah’s voice is displayed at full force on this track. Its interesting enough to listen how the vocal and the guitars play with each other, an interesting combination I must say. Save The World & Heart Of Poison, are such of melodic and catchy songs, and Timo Sommers delivers such powerful guitar riffs, that keep playing more and more with Leah‘s voice. Angel Fell, is a nice ballad that has an AOR style type of feeling, that works pretty good to keep you focus on the vocal parts.I must say that the album builds up this kind of melodic catchy epicness with every track, without leaving behind the focus on Leah‘s voice.Enter The Highlands is the mixing part of celtic folk music and metal, the song is heavy, ferocious, and beautiful at the same time. The interesting thing is that once again the guitar playing style of Sommers and the drum parts of Sander Zoer works as the backbone for the heavy parts of the record, with Leah delivering a melodic vocal counterpart to it that is just amazing to the ear. In The Palm Of Your Hands, is a more balanced and soft song that build up the texture and the identity of the record. One thing that amazes me the most, is how uniform and constant this record gets with every song, it doesn’t go and wander around with other sounds it keeps unfolding its own character song after song.Alpha Et Omega, gets a bit of electronic treatment that plays with minimal industrial elements here and there, this creates a cool effect between Leah‘s voice and the instrumental part of the song. Hourglass, is yet another interesting ballad that delivers a great deal on Leah‘s voice,definitively my favorite ballad out of the album. Palace Of Dreams is as epic as its title, a very heavy song with an amazing work on Leah‘s voice covering the song from beginning to end.This Present Darkness, is a really calm ballad that revealed a more organic sound on Leah‘s voice even though I like it how it sounds, I believe this song would be greater on an acoustic setting (but that is just me). The Crown, appears as a more classical celtic song, the atmosphere around it is just fantastic, it has a certain sense of relaxation and a warm feeling of tranquility all around.Remnant, brings back the fury and heavy part of the album, the feeling of this song is a contrast of violence and beauty, that once again continuing showing how uniform this album is. There Is Not Farewell, is a great way to close the album, once again the heavy riffs, soft keyboard parts, and the voice of Leah delivers an amazing piece of musical brightness.Overall Leah‘s new album Kings & Queens is a fine production of epic symphonic/celtic metal that not only has epic songs, but it gets heavy from time to time, the incredible part of this record is how Leah’s voice works so perfectly with the heavy riffs whether is a heavy song or a ballad, I love the uniform sound of the record that connects the songs one by one to build up the character and mood of the album.
Line Up:
LEAH - Vocals
Timo Somers - Guitars (Delain, Vengeance)
Barend Courbois - Bass (Tank, Vengeance, Blind Guardian (live), ex-Biss, ex-Ian Parry)
Sander Zoer - Drums & Percussions (ex-Delain, ex-Nemesea)
Additional Musicians:
Brent McHenry - Orchestration
Oliver Philipps - Orchestration & Pianos
Tracklist:
01. Arcadia
02. Save the World
03. Angel Fell
04. Enter the Highlands
05. In the Palm of Your Hands
06. Alpha et Omega
07. Heart of Poison
08. Hourglass
09. Palace of Dreams
10. This Present Darkness
11. The Crown
12. Remnant
13. There Is No Farewell
14. Siúil a Rún (Acoustic Version)
15. Siúil a Rún (Bonus Rock Version)
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