It’s that time of year again, and classical queen Tarja Turunen is the next artist from the metal world to experiment with a more minimal style of symphonic music. Her new record also just happens to be a Xmas album. Painting a dark winter scene à la Tim Burton (several moments on the album evoke Danny Elfman’s Edward Scissorhands score, especially O Tannenbaum) she lends her rich, bright soprano to hymns such as O Come, O Come Emmanuel and Amazing Grace beautifully. But the inclusion of more contemporary Xmas tunes like Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas and Deck The Halls feels a bit silly alongside the sombre Pie Jesu, even in a minor key. It’s not a ‘metal’ Xmas album by any means, but a rather lovely easy listen that your non-metalhead family members can enjoy.
Tarja - From Spirits And Ghosts (Score For A Dark Christmas) album review
Finland’s finest warbler gets into the seasonal spirit
You can trust Louder Our experienced team has worked for some of the biggest brands in music. From testing headphones to reviewing albums, our experts aim to create reviews you can trust. Find out more about how we review.
More about metal hammer
I asked a death metal supergroup to name the most brutal death metal albums of all time – this is what they came up with
"Ramones perfectly represent and encapsulate the essence of the underground." Napalm Death, Thurston Moore, Wayne Kramer, Ihsahn and members of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Rammstein, Gogol Bordello and more to appear on two forthcoming Ramones tribute albums
