TARJA hits a dramatic high.
In The Raw EARMUSIC Finland’s symphonic chanteuse heightens the drama
TARJA TURUNEN’S 14-YEAR solo career has seen her branch out, both sonically and conceptually, in unexpected directions. Musically, the Finnish soprano has dabbled in metal, classical and progressive styles, and back in 2016 she dropped two studio albums, including a ‘prequel’, The Brightest Void. A year later, she released a gothic, graphic novel to accompany her creepily beautiful Christmas album, From Spirits And Ghosts (Score For A Dark Christmas), featuring herself in animated form.
Her fifth studio album, In The Raw, doesn’t break new ground in the same way as albums past, but it might well be her most dramatic yet. Some tracks, such as Spirits Of The Sea and Serene, sound like a movie soundtrack. The Golden Chamber (Awaken/Lupoton Yö/Alchemy) is the album’s Disney-esque showstopper, a magical, glimmering mood piece where Tarja’s huge voice rides myriad emotions, backed by symphonic orchestra. Equally, über-ballad You And I finds Tarja drowning in strings, and it’s in these histrionic moments where the chanteuse sounds completely in her element and in control, relishing the opportunity to demonstrate the extent of her admirable, operatic vocal range.
The album’s heavier moments work well too, albeit not to the same degree. Opener, Dead Promises, features a very decent turn from Soilwork’s Bjorn ‘Speed’ Strid and nods to the symphonic stylings of Tarja’s Nightwish past, and Goodbye Stranger is an excellent duet with Lacuna Coil’s Cristina Scabbia. Both tracks are belters, but In The Raw shines brightest when the grandiose bombast is given free rein. Things reach an apex on Shadow Play, which somehow manages to find yet another level of extra to ascend to. Amid thundering drums, a huge choir and a massive, explosive finish, it sounds like it’s been written to bring every future Tarja show to a breathtaking close. It suits her theatrical brand to a tee, letting everything rip in a maelstrom of drama.
FOR FANS OF: Nightwish, Epica, Within Temptation