Leah brings her haunting, ethereal vocals back to symphonic/orchestral metal in The Glory and the Fallen, a collection of 12 tracks inspired by fantasy, history, and personal experience showcasing her vocals and songwriting.
Leah McHenry has become a name synonymous with symphonic metal and one who has a faithful fanbase who enthusiastically crowdfunds her efforts. For The Glory and the Fallen, the Kickstarter campaign looks to have run in Aug 2023, where it was fully funded in 3 hours and eventually ended over 400% funded (at $111k cad). The Canadian started back in 2012 with her debut, Of Earth and Angels, the success of which led to two ep’s in 2013 and finally another full length, Kings & Queens in 2015 followed by The Quest (2018, and Ancient Winter (2019). As has been the case with previous albums, Leah has no difficulty in pulling together great musicians to support her efforts and The Glory and the Fallen features Mark Jansen (Epica), Timo Somers (ex-Delain), and Sander Zoer (Delain), The album was produced by Oliver Philipps (Everon, Phantasma) and mixed and mastered by Tom Müller at Flatliners Studio.
The Glory and the Fallen opens up with “Archangel” just as one would expect or hope if you’re a fan of symphonic metal with a great female vocalist. A bit quiet with some whispered vocals and then the guitars come in for the louder intro part of the song. The verse sections have an intermittent guitar riff but largely carried along by the drums and vocals and make no mistake, Leah’s vocals are the star here. In this track they are light, smooth and somewhat bouncy along with the music. The bridge has her briefly exploring some higher ranges and the chorus is strong. Throughout, there are various vocal layers adding depth and it all works really well. For my ears, I would appreciate a bit of roughness, although not sure if her vocals ever get there, but at least the guitars could be a little more prominent in the mix in keeping with the metal aspect.
“No More Fear” has a bit of Leah’s Celtic influences coming through from time to time with respect to some of the vocal phrasing, which I personally like and in this setting it is very understated. Leah explores more of the higher ranges in this track in some parts and there are some good guitar fills here and there if you listen closely, which is a nice touch when the focus is the vocals. I honestly can not say enough good things about Leah’s vocals on this album (like her others) as they can go from strong to soft, from whispers to soaring, haunting and mesmerizing. When you add in the various vocal layers and the exquisite vocal production, they are essentially perfect.
“Unshakeable” has a much more prominent Celtic feel to it, from the vocals what sounds like traditional stringed and percussion instruments in the mix with the guitars, bass, and drums. Timo Somers adds a good guitar solo and Leah’s daughters provide some solid backing vocals. “Speak to Me” continues in a similar vein and the opening with just Leah’s vocals backed by traditional instruments and some orchestral arrangement and provides a good example of how an arrangement can carry power without the drums and guitars even if they do show up later in the track.
“Dream and Voyage” has Leah’s vocals shifting a bit in parts to an almost spoken staccato-like delivery which works really well in this setting, contrasting well with the soaring chorus. Having unfortunately having listened to a good bit of popular music lately where vocalists mumble and fail to enunciate even simple parts, hearing the clarity in the vocals here is certainly refreshing. “Wings of Time” is one of the more different tracks on the album and showcases some more of Leah’s vocals abilities aside from those getting her “Metal Enya” label. Leah does shake things up even more in “Sleeping Giant” featuring harsh/rough vocals from Mark Jansen (Epica) that definitely contrast to the light and airy vocals from Leah in what is arguably the most adventurous track on the album.
I often wonder how often crowdfunding contributors end up disappointed with what they funded. I can’t imagine any who participated in the campaign for The Glory and the Fallen will be disappointed as this should be exactly what they would have expected in the haunting, ethereal vocals, rich arrangements, strong performances and solid production. For those of us looking in from the outside, I would have liked to have heard more of the folk and metal influences be more prominent, but it is really difficult to find fault here in the songs released.
Rating: 8/10
Written by John Jackson
Tracklist
01. Archangel
02. No More Fear
03. Unshakable
04. Speak to Me
05. Dream Voyage
06. Revive
07. Little Stars
08. Wings of Time
09. Sleeping Giant
10. Before This War is Over
11. Victory
12. Glow
Band Members
Sander Zoer – Drums
Timo Somers – Guitars
Timo Somers – Bass
David Celibeerian – Flutes & pipes on Victory and Dream Voyage
Mark Jansen – Harsh vocals on Sleeping Giant & Unshakable
Guest vocals on Unshakable: Elektra, Victory, Geneva (Leah’s daughters)
Guest vocals on Victory: Oliver Philipps & Timo Somers
Release Date: February 16, 2024
Record Label: Ex Cathedra Records
Weblinks: Website / Facebook / Bandcamp / Twitter / Instagram / The Leah Shop
Video (audio) for “Sleeping Giant”
Video for “Archangel”
Video for “Before this War is Over”