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Producers: Neal Avron, Tarja Turunen
With no disrespect meant towards those that followed her, symphonic metal band Nightwish just hasn’t been the same since vocalist Tarja Turunen left the ranks in 2005. The trained classical singer with a three-octave vocal range brought something to the world of metal that we’d never really seen before: actual operatic vocals rather than opera-esque singing. But hey, the past is the past. Nightwish moved on and so has Turunen.
Recording under her first name, Frisson Noir is (amazingly) Tarja’s 10th studio album, dropping three years after the Dark Christmas “holiday-ish” record. The title track sees the album get off to a moody start, before “The Eternal Return” kicks in—an absolute monster of an opera-rock song. There’s a break where Tarja allows her voice to soar, and it’s simply spine-tingling. “Leap of Faith” sees Tarja working with fellow former Nightwish member Marko Hietala again, and it’s an epic, dynamic tune.
There are other guests too—cello rockers Apocalyptica pop up on “Tango,” Chili Pepper Chad Smith appears on “Against the Odds” and, best of all, Dani Filth of British black metal vets Cradle of Filth lends his screech to “I Don’t Care.”
There’s a lot going on, and it’s all good. Tarja’s voice is her greatest gift, but the songwriting is excellent too, and she’s surrounded herself with excellent musicians.
