Tarja Turunen is Finnish rock royalty. Her star rose during a tenure in symphonic metal staple Nightwish. In 2005, keyboardist and primadonna Tuomas Holopainen accused her of diva-like behaviour. At the end of their tour, the band cast her out with a group hug of death. Go figure.
No biggie, Tarja kept her captivating mezzo-soprano pipes warm going solo. In Europe, her records mostly rang gold and platinum gongs. The mere word ‘Tarja’ dances like silk across the tongue. Her conservatory-to-rockstar story reads like a fairytale. Colours in the Dark shatters a once deeply held illusion.
Tarja’s band apes the Nightwish sound. No doubts cast there. It’s kind of like hearing them outside the pub while stuck neck-deep in a chat about tax accounting. Opener Victim of Ritual builds around a suspiciously knocked-off Bolero march before taking off into full-blown Hollywood metal. Later, she realigns hippie chakras in Lucid Dreamer. She’s a waif-like doll dancing gracefully across a dive bar stage on Neverlight, penned by ex-In Flames headbanger Jesper Stromblad. She struggles in Peter Gabriel cover Darkness, proving her opera hall voice doesn’t fit inside pop-sized boxes.
It feels like Tarja’s handlers swatted her into an array of bizarre backgrounds, hoping her sublime voice will carry us away every time. It feels like Tarja’s fallen from symphonic metal heaven only to hold court in a stylistically confused hell. Nightwish proved repeatedly they don’t need Tarja. With this record, Tarja indentured under a crazed, top-hat wearing martinet doesn’t sound so bad after all.
BY TOM VALCANIS
Best Track: Victim of Ritual
If You Like These, You’ll Like This: NIGHTWISH, SARAH BRIGHTMAN, SIRENIA
In A Word: Odd
