This is the project of Ritchie Blackmore, the guitarist of many old hard rock bands so I find reviewing it appropriate even if the style of the band is not what usually attracts metal fans. Anyway, there is a lot of renaissance/medievalism around in metal side projects so this should be refreshing because here you hear it done by musicians who know their instruments but the singer, Candice Night, is almost too pop for my taste. But she sounds pretty and that makes me and many others forgive her for her at times too sweet approach.

The songs are mostly folk and there are adaptations of some old favorite tunes such as "Past Time With Good Company" and Blackmore apparently can't get rid of playing guitar solos even when he's doing folk; luckily most of this is acoustic. In comparison with the earlier album "Shadows of the Moon", the songs are not so catchy and try to sound more mature. Maybe this is good because it darkens the album a bit. The worst parts are the ones where they play around with a bit of electronica, but anyone who listens to modern folk will find this a common annoyance.

So, as an overall assessment of the album, if you are not offended by Ritchie Blackmore's hat and the kind of sugar that makes you think of darlings and firesides, get it because it's better than most pseudo-medievalism. Also if you happen to hear the hit songs on the radio they might give a wrong impression because most of the album is deeper, especially lyric-wise.

© 2003 black hate