Edge Of Paradise ‘Universe’ Out now on Frontiers

Appearances can be deceptive. Based on the band name and album artwork, I was expecting a generic European symphonic album but this is actually a slice of quality, modern female-fronted metal from California, USA.
‪Halestorm producer Mike Plotnikoff is on knob-twiddling duty and you can hear a trace of that band’s style on tracks like the twisted and sexy ‘Perfect Disaster’. Fans of Lacuna Coil should also enjoy the almost industrial sound of ‘Hollow’ and there’s a middle-eastern vibe on ‘Electrify’.‬
Margarita Monet has a very distinctive vocal delivery. Many of the songs start with short bursts of breathy, vocal passages before the power kicks in – listen to ‘Fire’ and ‘Universe’ to hear what I mean. It’s endearing, but less effective when used on the whole song as with ‘World’ which is a bit ‘Happy Birthday Mr President’ for me. Nice piano playing though – Margarita is classically trained.

Guitarist, David Bates, is the writer and driving force behind the band but he’s reasonably restrained throughout the album until he cuts loose on the instrumental ‘Burn the Sun’ with a virtuoso performance. It would be good to hear even more of this woven into future songs.

Edge of Paradise are currently on tour in Europe with ‪Sonata Arctica‬.