Review Summary: Well-balanced and solidly written, "Sacrificium" does enough to maintain Xandria's pace.
The process of changing lead singers, given its grueling nature, isn’t always the most advantageous thing for a band to go through. Now imagine, like in Xandria’s case, you went through it not just with a singer (Lisa Middelhauve) you released four albums and made a name with, but also with another singer (Manuela Kraller) that made such a big impression on fans very quickly. And with the success of the musical direction that started with “Neverworld’s End”, the pressure was on to find someone who could take up the mantle and "keep the dream alive", as it were. Enter Ex Libris singer Dianne van Giersbergen, who certainly had the resumé and style, but with big shoes to fill there was much speculation on whether or not “Sacrificium” would keep the band on the highly promising road they so recently started out on.
The short answer is yes. The long answer is involved. The album opens with the title track that puts all of the very best aspects of Xandria's brand of symphonic metal on display. It’s grand, bombastic, and strikes a solid balance between beauty and beast. Van Giersbergen’s vocals soar up and down through the song and form a fantastic combination with the choir (which sounds impressive in its own right) during the chorus. Add all of that to some great guitar solos and powerful percussion, and the album starts off as respectably as any symphonic metal album I’ve heard.
With how good the first track was, one might worry that Xandria played their trump card too early. But while there is the slightest bit of drop-off; the band blazes a competent trail through to the finish line. The good news is that all the aspects that worked on the first track continue to do so throughout the album. Van Giersbergen earns her stripes with a versatile vocal style, displaying some aggression in songs like “Little Red Relish” while also showing off an amazing angelic side on such tracks as “Our Neverworld” and “The Undiscovered Land”, all while maintaining a refreshingly classical technique, even if it doesn't quite match the power and bombast of Kraller's. The songwriting is also a highlight here; the aforementioned “The Undiscovered Land”, for instance, runs the gamut from nostalgic to aggressive to mournful against a backdrop of some quite nice orchestrations that seamlessly blends in some folk sounds. One only wishes this effort was more present in songs like "Dreamkeeper" and "Come With Me", which, while not forgettable, didn't quite match the energy and creativity of the rest of the tracklist. But in general, the album knows when to be calm and when to be aggressive and how much to mix the two.
Overall, the album is solid; bombastic without being overbearing, epic without being pretentious, and grand without being cheesy. Between Dianne van Giersbergen’s commendable debut, decent songwriting, and a good balance of musical elements, there’s no reason why the band can’t keep continuing down its newfound path. One can just hope that the current lineup is there to carry it for as long as possible.
