Eden’s Curse ‘Live With the Curse’ Review

I’ve been a little pre-occupied these past few months and neglecting my love for music and writing. Luckily for me, the ‘Powers That Be’ at Decibel Geek, were about to inspire me once again. I opened my computer and the first post I read on our staff page was FULL of CD’s up for review. Eden’s Curse Live With the Curse jumped right out at me so I snagged it immediately.  I’m kicking myself now because I’ve been caught up in my own little bubble for the last couple of months, not heeding the advice of my friend Amanda. “Eden’s Curse“, she said, (she actually insisted) “You have got to listen to Eden’s Curse“. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust in her opinion. Her taste in music is impeccable. I just never got around to actually pulling the trigger and pressing play.

This morning that all changed. I downloaded the album that’s up for review and a couple more so I could have a good frame of reference and I was off!! Well, guess what folks?! Yeah…turns out Eden’s Curse are right up there at the top of my musical taste meter!! So let me tell you all about the brand new, double LIVE CD and also, a bit about the band. 

Eden’s Curse are a European melodic metal band who were born in 2007. Initially an internet project to expand upon musical ideas with a few friends, this multi-national melodic metal group soon saw a foundation to build upon. With five members spanning five countries, they burst onto the scene with their first of four fantastic studio albums, the self-titled Eden’s Curse.  After nine years, (and a few mostly amicable, but some slightly more controversial  lineup changes), the time was right to answer the call of their devoted fans for a live CD. In November 2014, Live With the Curse was recorded and released in March 2015. 

Hugely respected by their fans and fellow musicians (Bruce Dickinson from Iron Maiden and James LaBrie from Dream Theater, to name just a couple of heavyweights), they spent some time on the road with Stratovarius and opened some huge shows for Dream Theater, and then embarked on their own seven date headlining tour, where they recorded the new double CD in Glasgow at The Classic Grand.

Fans from all over Europe and even Japan travelled to Glasgow for this long awaited event. The sound quality of this production nicely highlights the dynamic talents of the band’s long-time sound engineer, Dennis Ward (Pink Cream 69).  The production quality on Live With the Curse reminds me of Queensryche. In 1988, I saw the Operation: Mindcrime tour and it wasn’t until that day that I realized a band could sound that incredible – LIVE.   It changed the way I saw live music.  Nowadays, bands are so pumped up with pro-tools it’s hard to decipher whether it’s really them at all, but Eden’s Curse doesn’t leave any question.  The musicianship and production quality are both limitless. All 18 songs are pure perfection.

Let me break it down…

1. “Symphony of Sin”.
This was the first song I heard by this band, so for me it is the perfect song to come out with guns blazing. Hard and heavy but with all the added elements to make the perfect melodic metal offering. I was blown away by the studio version and possibly even more by the live.  Still my fave.

2. “Break the Silence”.
I love the guitar in this song and the vocals are killer. There have been a number of lineup changes over the lifetime of Eden’s Curse, but the talent has always been phenomenal. New singer, Nikola Mijic is no exception, taking over the vocal reins with the release of Symphony of Sin, and proving to be a perfect fit.

3. “Masquerade Ball”.
The drums and guitar are crazy awesome on the intro to this song. Oh, how I love this band!

4. “Black Widow”.
Melodic metal at its best. My breakdown is starting to be very repetitive. There are only so many ways to describe perfection!!
The first CD follows through with “Trinity”, “Fly Away”, “Just Like Judas”, “Fallen From Grace”, “Jerusalem Sleeps”, and then a completely kick ass guitar solo at the hands of Thorsten Koehne, which can only be described as tasty, flawless shredding. There’s nothing quite like a rock solid, melodic metal guitar solo to take you to that magical place where your head and your heart mesh together to remind you why it is that you love this stuff so much!! Number 11, and the last song on CD one is “Time to Breathe”, and, of course, like the rest of this epic offering, it’s outstanding.

CD Two goes like this:
12. “Rock Bottom”
13. “Devil in Disguise”
14. “Wings to Fly”
15. “No Holy Man”
16. “Unbreakable”
17. “Judgement Day”
18. Band Introductions
19. “Evil and Divine”
20. “Angels and Demons”

All amazing!!!
The setlist contains favourites and classics from all four Eden’s Curse albums. Eden’s Curse (2007), The Second Coming (2008), Trinity (2011), and the most recent studio album, 2013’s Symphony of Sin.

At over 100 minutes of play time and 18 songs, this epic live album is a pure masterpiece. If you’re a fan of hard-driving, melodic metal with killer players knocking it out of the park on every song, then set yourself aside a couple of hours and get down and Live With the Curse.

Today, April 14, 2015, you can watch their NEW video of “Unbreakable” (included below), it’s a bonus for their North American release of Live With The Curse.  Enjoy.