The album starts with the catchy ‘Frankenstein’s Wife‘. Right from the start, Marko shows us how much he can covey just with the tone of his voice. There are parts where he sounds tender and loving, and in others he sounds almost a bit insane and twisted. Generally the song has a strong 80s rock vibe and I think it’s a rather nice song that probably is gonna live rent-free for a while after I’m done writing this review.

Next up is ‘Left on Mars‘, a duet between Marko and his old bandmate Tarja Turunen. As already mentioned, I wasn’t quite sure about this song when I first heard it live during the summer. Nevertheless, it is still nice to hear these two together again, as their voices do work nicely with each other, and it’s also nice to see that time really can heal a lot of wounds. The lyrics seem like an attempt to deal with the emotions and overwhelming feeling caused by neurodivergency. As someone who has their own struggles with this topic, this song does provide a lot of comfort and the more I listen to it the more it grows on me.

‘Proud Whore‘ yet again provides a very different feel to it than the previous songs. The song is a lot grungier and darker than it’s predecessors. It does remind me, in parts, of Battle Beast‘s ‘Lost in Wars‘. It’s not quite my favourite, but I very much enjoyed Hietala‘s vocals on this track.
If you know me, you might be able to guess this already, but next up is my favourite track of the album, a ballade. ‘Two Soldiers‘ carries itself simultaneously with great heaviness and a feeling of weightlessness. Just as Marko‘s voice plays in contrast to JP Leppäluoto the lyrics battle between the despair of wars and the glimmer of hope that keeps us going. I get a feeling of nostalgia listening to this song that progressively just as the music grows in simplistic epic-ness. The spoken part in the middle of the song adds even more emotion to the song.

The longest song of the album ‘Dragon Must Die‘ includes several really well crafted instrumental parts. The song changes it tone multiple times. It starts with just some drums from Anssi Nykänen before continuing to add a cunning guitar riff. Marko sounds like a mad scientist on this song, I mean this in the best possible way. At the beginning of the first instrumental part, the music slows down for a second before growing again through the use of strong keys and synths. This song provides a more challenging listening experience.

‘The Devil You Know‘ combines a touch of country with a more grunge feel. The stomping beat and the heavy guitars give this song a bit of an old school vibe.
‘Rebel of the North‘ is a pretty straight forward rock song, that makes full use of the insanity in Marko‘s vocals. It also incudes several great solos by guitarist Tuomas Wäinölä.
Another song that deals with the struggles of mental health is ‘Impatient Zero‘, which gets carried by a heavy and interesting bass lines. The monotone rhythm of the verses perfectly conveys the same depressing feeling of the lyrics. The monotony gets cut sharply by Tuomas‘ solos.

‘Tammikuu‘ the, regrettably, only Finnish song on the album. I would love to hear all of these songs in Finnish as it had been on the previous album, but I’m not too hopeful that that will happen. I just love how Marko sounds even more when he’s singing in his native tongue. In addition, this song feels immediately like a Finnish rock classic, which I very much appreciate.
The last track of the record ‘Roses from the Deep‘ starts slow and soulful, mainly focusing on Marko‘s vocals only supported by acoustic guitar and backing strings. The song slowly progresses while slowly building up in intensity. Yet it retains it’s heartfelt atmosphere. The song provides a very powerful and satisfying ending to this epic album.

This album is certainly worth checking out, for example on one of the upcoming live shows.

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