Tarja - CD Review
Colours in the Dark

CD Info
2013
EarMusic official
10 tracks
English lyrics

Third albums are universally acknowledged as being the most arduous trial for any developing musician. With the first album, the main task lies with the development of one’s musical identity in the hopes of enticing new listeners with something radically different from what they are accustomed to hearing on the airways. Second albums are a far less difficult feat to accomplish, for second albums almost always serve as the artistic space for the musician to further evolve their established sound. Once the third album is on the threshold of being developed, the musician though must make the choice of whether or not to develop their recognizable sound even further, thus constructing a sound that coheres with the listener’s expectations. Daringly, the artist, though, might decide to defy their listener's expectations with the creation of a new musical identity altogether

Fascinatingly, Tarja’s third album, Colours in the Dark, deftly straddles the line between experimenting with new musical elements and maintaining some recognizable facets of Tarja’s signature musical style. Thematically, the music cathartically moves beyond the exploration of the darker emotions associated with the human experience, and strives to find both vitality and depth within the more colorful aspects of our lives. In recent interviews, Tarja has mentioned that the inspiration for the music in this album are culled from the struggles and experiences in her own life around the time of the album was being developed.

For this reason, the album’s first single “Victim of Ritual”, the album’s most bombastic piece, evokes Tarja’s love for the melodrama of theatrical music and the slightly restrained boisterousness of metal music. From the outset of this complex piece, the listener is lulled into a sense of predictable security by the confident string of notes being played jointly by a nasally oboe and fierce drum beat. Unpredictably, the song makes a sharp crescendo into a brash metal sound that throws the listener off from trying to pin down the song’s musical patterns. Whether consciously or unconsciously, “Victim of Ritual” seems to musically describe the internal struggle of Tarja, as she struggles to shape a sound that is both experimental and aesthetically-pleasing. For Tarja, this is a struggle to both carve out one’s own musical identity in midst of the cacophony of contrasting opinions about the standardized musical elements that define music as being of the metal genre.

For those atypical metal fans that define metal music as brash and domineering, “Neverlight,” acts as Tarja’s proud display of her ability to create metal music that evinces a rough exterior. Fortunately, most of the other tracks on Colours in the Dark have a much more complex music landscape than Neverlight, which is the weakest track on the album along with “Never Enough.” The main problem with “Neverlight” is that it is much too short and uncomplicated, even though it is still a competent and even thrilling song. On the other hand, “Never Enough” is far too long and has trouble knowing the precise moment to end the song, instead the tapered ending feels interminable. A part of me feels that both these pieces were meant to appease listeners that might be turned off by the radical experimentation of the other songs, which really comprise the core depth of this album’s beauty.

Nearly all the other tracks on this album, notably “Deliverance”, “Medusa”, “Victim of Ritual”, and Darkness, are an interesting amalgamation of elements from alternative rock, metal, and classical music. Nearly all these songs are extensive, and generally are around five to eight minutes long. These songs strongly attest to Tarja’s breadth of knowledge about different genres of music, and it is this extensive knowledge that allows these beautifully complex, winding metal pieces to stand apart from the vast variety of generic metal pieces out there. The nuanced combination of classical music elements combined with far more new-age music elements are reminiscent of music created by Emilie Autumn, one of my personal favorite Victorian-industrial artists.

One piece that really proves that this album is far more evolved and sophisticated than Tarja’s last two albums is her poignant cover of Peter Gabriel’s darkness. Much of Peter Gabriel's “Darkness,” is admittedly very soporific, as Peter Gabriel’s singing voice is too gravely and unsustainable for my tastes. As I compared Tarja’s cover to the Peter Gabriel’s original version, I admired the sophistication of the piece and mesmerizing air of melancholy that envelops you at certain points in Peter Gabriel’s version. Weirdly, these visceral responses to the song felt more pronounced, when I listened to Tarja’s rendition of the piece. In Tarja’s cover version, there are no artless gaps of silence within the sound as with Peter Gabriel’s version, and Tarja contrives instead to fill those gaps with eerily soft violin sounds. Also, Tarja’s voice shows off an impressive vocal versatility in this piece, as the timbre of her voice changes throughout the song in many more ingenious ways than Peter Gabriel himself. In the end, Tarja’s cover version of the song accomplishes the rare feat of improving upon the Peter Gabriel version. Even for those that love Peter Gabriel’s version, I am sure that they will appreciate Tarja’s respectful homage to a piece of music that is a masterpiece in terms of its lyrics and structure.

Another standout track is “Deliverance,” which Tarja has mentioned in interviews is another piece inspired by her enthusiastic love for James Bond films. “In for the Kill,” happens to be one of my favorite tracks from the last album, as it successfully captured the frenetic pace of a James Bond film. “Deliverance” sounds more like the somber twin to the more action-packed fierceness of “In for the Kill.” Since the song is juxtaposed to “Darkness,” “Deliverance” begins with a soft,doleful piano melody before growing in proportion to a loud, but mildly subdued metal piece. Altogether, the song would be the perfect song for the credits of a James Bond film, since it delivers a very sedate, though powerful send-off after the whiplash of action sequences featured towards the end of any ambitious action film. In the scheme of the album itself though, this song generously provides catharsis after the overwhelming dark beauty of Darkness.

By the end of this intensely rich album, “Medusa” imbues the listener once more with the same melancholic ambiance that was featured in “Darkness.” Rather than simply emulating the exact same musical atmosphere of that piece, Medusa features a strong metal base in the chorus, along with a soft alternative rock sound that fills in the grim silence that broodingly settles in during the soothing verses of this ingenious piece. Providing supporting vocals, Justin Furstenfeld of Blue October fame complements Tarja’s forlorn voice with a much more weary, aggravated voice that vividly evokes the range of the mythological figure of Medusa’s despair. Artfully, this piece encapsulates the meaning inherent in all the songs of this album, which is that music provides the color or emotional support needed for progression and temerity during some of the roughest patches of our lives. Even if some of us feel mightily impotent one day, there is always some dormant, restless part of ourselves that feels the burgeoning desire to create something meaningful within the blank canvas of our everyday lives.

At this point in Tarja’s maturing career, it is simply inappropriate to compare her anymore with Nightwish, as though her solo career is nothing but vindication for being kicked out of Nightwish. Musically, Nightwish and Tarja are very different in terms of their sound and structure; both bands have differentiated themselves beyond the reproach of critics that feel the need to tirelessly compare both bands for the remainder of their respective music careers. Colours of Dark is structurally complex and aesthetically mature. Tarja’s newest album proves that she is a metal artist, who is definitely neither an amateur or copycat. More importantly, the musicians that she works with are highly talented. In particular, Mike Terrana, the drummer for all Tarja’s albums, invariably does great work with all the impressive drumwork featured on all Tarja’s album. Of course, Tarja’s vocals on this album are top-notch, and this album might prove to be the apex of her career in terms of the versatility of her vocals in this album.

If you are feeling disheartened by the woeful lack of innovation in the metal genre as of late, Tarja’s album, Colours in the Dark, will remind you of the rich variance of different musical elements that can coexist in metal music. For myself, this album has reminded that there is beauty, color, and paradox in rich abundance in every mundane, seemingly colorless day of our lives.

9 / 10

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