VON DEN ELBEN

A major let down, especially after the highs of 2011's Eden--one of my favorite Prog Folk albums of all-time. I don't know if it's the subject matter, or the confusion of so many outside contributors (sounds like they had a real party!), or having to move into yet another lead soprano vocalist (Katja Moslehner), or the fact that I thought the previous lead soprano, Margareta "Rairda" Aibl, was perhaps the most perfect fit for their more proggy sound, or perhaps its the strange "upfront" mixing of so many individual tracks or the poor engineering choices for the percussion instruments, but this album could neither hold my interest nor draw me in. Still, with three of the greatest Prog Folk albums ever created (2005's Renaissance, 2011's Eden, 2014's Luna)--out of nine studio releases, that's a pretty good ratio. Thank goodness for their recovery with next year's Luna--on which Katja has risen to the task and the number of distractions coming from so many guest collaborators is eliminated.

Best song: the title song, "Von Den Elben" as it really promotes that which the future holds: the amazing potential of soprano vocalist Katja Moslehner (9.5/10).