Album review : FAIRYLAND – The Story Remains

Frontiers [Release date : 13.06.25]

The Story Remains is the fifth album from Fairyland, the best French Symphonic Metal band since Manigance.

The death of founder Phillipe Giordana in 2022 – in the middle of writing and recording the new album – had a profound impact on the band, leading to a shake up in both the line up and musical style.

Most notably, co-founder Willdric Lieven brought in new vocalist on the block, Archie Caine. A smart move. Caine anchors the band’s imaginative, fanciful narratives to solid ground, while spine tingling orchestrations whirl back and forth around him.

The album’s spoken word intro paints a darkly lit picture of an epic fantasy cum Sci-fi world, a continuation of the themes vividly illustrated in 2022 album, Osyrhianta.

The cycle of death and rebirth plays a large part in the story, with ‘Karma’, ‘Samsara’ and ‘A New Dawn’ leading the way.

The thing is, the stories in such recordings don’t always appeal to genre fans, but that notion becomes irrelevant when you listen to the majestic ‘To The Stars And Beyond’ and ‘Hopeless Still’. Both are a showcase for Caine’s remarkable tenor, effortlessly hitting those skyscraping notes. And there is no attempt to sacrifice melody for bombast, in these two standouts or in any of the album’s other songs.

Pivotal tracks, the 10 minute ‘Unbreakable’ and its 8 minute ‘Postscript’, light up the album’s bold, cinematic soundscape.

Mirroring classical music, they are divided into several movements, each contributing moods and atmospheres to the lyrical themes.

Many bands take this same approach within the Symphonic Metal canon. Fairyland’s music is clearly strong enough to assimilate the genre’s characteristics and still emerge with its own unique identity/ identifiable sound. ****

Review by Brian McGowan

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