Edenbridge – Set the Dark on Fire | Progressive Rock Central.com

Edenbridge is back! With their 12th studio album, Set The Dark On Fire, which was released on January 16, of this year on the Steam Hammer/SPV label.

Edenbridge, has been a band for over 28 years. They have been leaders in the female – fronted metal symphonic genre for many of those 28 years. They are also one of my favorite bands within the genre. It is always a pleasure to review their latest album, and Set The Dark On Fire, is no exception.

The band’s first album release was, Sunrise in Eden, released back in2000. Since then, they have been very prolific releasing an album or compilation every other year. They have the 12 separate albums to their credit, and have also released two compilation albums, and a live album. Music just seems to flow from this band like water.

Edenbridge’s band members include: Lanvall, on lead guitars, rhythm guitars, acoustic guitars, piano, keyboards, electric sitar, Bouzouki, ukulele, Swarmandal, hammered dulcimer, Tampura, monochord, and mandolin; Sabine Edelsbacher, on lead vocals; Johannes Jungreithmeier, on drums; Steven Hall, on bass; and Sven Sevens, also on lead guitars.

Edenbridge’s albums are usually separated into a heavier side, usually the first side. And a more ballad – oriented side, with an epic closer, on side two. Lanvall, the band leader and main contact member, made this statement about, Set The Dark On Fire, “We remain absolutely true to our style on the new album, but, in collaboration with our long-time mixing and mastering engineer Karl Groom from the band Threshold, we have tweaked some important parameters in the guitar/bass/drums area. The result is our most energetic and heaviest album to date. At the same time, Karl, as usual, ensures a crystal-clear mix that transparently showcases every detail.”

And so it does. Here is what I heard:

“The Ghostship Diaries,” does not open with the sturdy sounds of a ship on the high seas. No it starts with the entire metal soundscape of lead electric guitars, bass, drums, and keyboards rushing at you like a ship attacking the sea. Sabine is quickly heard delivering the story, “ The clouds glowered in the sky. The palisades of sham are near. The age of reason seems a far cry. Alas you lost the wheel to steer. A gothic tale in your fool’s paradise. As you are turning the last page. Like a stowaway they came in their disguise. In your unenlightened age. We are the ones who braved the storm. We are the souls eternal. And we’re attired in a veil of all the golden mysteries. Never bow, never fall. Never give in to the skin game. Nevermore, never were. And read the runes. Never bow, never fall. So come to rename. The Ghostship Diaries.” Lanvall plays a fantastic electric guitar solo midway through the song. A great welcome back from Edenbridge. Everything sounds top notch…as always.

“Cosmic Embrace,” opens with pounding drums, soft keyboards, and electric lead guitar, with bass accompanying. Sabine sings the story, “There you seek, there you ponder over. Gleaning thoughts in the fall of day. You repeat losing all your power.
A high price to pay. Move inside to the heart of tempest. Silence is what you will find. Be the bloom and dare to open. To the sun aligned. Then, the powerful chorus, “Cosmic embrace, the heart is on fire. The source of being reveals. It is all alchemy, ecstasy. The exit from the wheel. Cosmic embracе, the soul is on fire. This is what you are. Thе sun is the brightest eye to unify. Majestic from afar.”
Then, an orchestrated soundscape rises with the choir chanting. Two songs down, and we know we have returned to the symphonic master’s dominion. Great to have this band back at full speed.

“Where the Wild Things Are,” has a pirate, swashbuckling melody, like opening, which is welcomed. The keyboards, lead electric guitars, bass and drums pointing the way. Then, Sabine, one of the best vocalists in the genre, sings one of the band’s early singles off the album, “Untamed and keeping their pace. Aleen rides on the back of her steed. The wind’s ruffling her flowing hair. Mother Gaia is her only creed. The elements deep in her prayer.” The chorus is enrapturing, “Holy is the crown. The whirlwind’s turning upside down. The power of the Earth, she is a star. She dares to speak it out. A taboo that’s all about. Aleen’s arising where the wild things are.” Lanvall contributes a wonderful acoustic guitar solo, before the quickened pace resumes. This was the band’s second single, with an interactive music video full of the sights of green cliffs near the ocean.

“Tears of the Prophets,” is a wonderful electric guitar and keyboard instrumental. The kind of contemplative song you wish every band would include on every album. Thanks.

“Our Place Among the Stars,” opens with heavy electric guitars, drums, and bass. There is a slower, plodding pace to this song. Then Sabine electrifies the soundscape with her vocal delivery, “We are in perpetual motion. On a tapestry of time. But have lost our devotion. Can’t we go back to our prime. As the storm was unabated. In these shadow years. Reality we created. We drown in a vale of tears. Is it beyond the veil? A long-forgotten tale. Is it the echoes of the unseen. Or the fragments of a dream. One wild blue yonder. A world of eternal wonder. Right east of Venus, west of Mars. A jewel in splendor. A symphony of surrender. This is our place among the stars.” An over seven-minute heavy metal symphonic masterpiece, with a deep and sad electric guitar solo from Lanvall.

“Set the Dark on Fire,” is the album’s title song and it was released as the first hit single and music video off the album. It opens with cool electric cords, bass, guitar, drums, and keyboards set to a faster pace than the last song. Sabine brings the story home with her powerful vocal, “Rise and blaze a trail. Make the turn by tripping up the tumblers. Time has come to expose their tale. The true colors of the mystery-mongers. Loaded dice have rolled with patience and a snare . The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. The salt of the earth won’t aim for the lion’s share. But what goes around will come around, the future will be swirled.” Then, the wonderful, catchy chorus, “Here we are to set the dark on fire. Come along and walk the wire. We will go on. Into the dawn. We set the dark on fire!” A great song full of awesome electric guitar shredding.

“Bonded by the Light,” is my favorite song on this album. Edenbridge is very good at making songs that would be perfect for James Bond movie themes; and this is one of the best ones yet! They must like them, because they even created their own cover of the James Bond movie, For Your Eyes Only. Oh, if only every track on this album had this songs’ tempre, power, and above all majesty! The song opens with piano after whirlwind orchestration. Sabine enters immediately and lights the stage with the story, “I can feel the wind, it’s breezing lightly. Clears my eyes, my soul. Gazing at the leaves, they’re moving slightly. I let loose control.” So similar in nature to Adele’s classic Bond theme, Skyfall. Sabine sings, “Here am I, (Like a short trip back to the beginning of “The Bonding,” epic song). And say goodbye. To sorrow, anguish and fear. Wish for the love we are. Long for to heal the scar. When all comes down. We’re the light we’re striving for. Wish for a dream to share. The heart of solitaire. By all esteem. We are bonded by the light forevermore. I can feel the grace; it’s growing in me. Makes me firm in this world. Silent, pure. The place of cure. The echoes of an ancient dream. Love we are. Long for to heal the scar. When all comes down. We’re the light we’re striving for. Wish for a dream to share. The heart of solitaire. By all esteem. We are bonded by the light. Far beyond all stories. The trees and air in lenity. A vision of pure honesty. Where we may be forevermore. Forevermore. We are bonded by the light!” Over 4 minutes of extreme beauty! Please make more of these types of songs.

With the last song “Bonded by the Light,” and “Divine Dawn Reveal,” we are entering what I call the “Golden Realm,” of an Edenbridge album. The best songs on the album are usually saved to conclude the album. “Divine Dawn Reveal,” is a wonderful mysterious Middle Eastern sounding trance, meditation song. It is complete with Sabine’s vocal incantations. Another of the best songs on the album. Full of sitars, bells, chimes, and all the wonderful mysterious instruments they did not include on the other tracks of the album. What a shame.

“Lighthouse,” opens like a continuation of the last song. Full of mystery and Middle Eastern melodies. However, the metal soundscape rebuilds and takes over the song. Sabine sings, amongst bits of sitar sounds, “Misty illusions pass by. And you see a black bird fly. The darkness is spreading out there. Severity lies in the air.
The lighthouse am I. The eye in the sky. The observer’s gaze. Moves over the tides. Nothing can hide. Breaking the haze. Again you are diving into. The veil of sadness grew in you. You’re straying in fields forlorn. You’re craving for clarity; the exit is born.” Then suddenly the pace slows and Sabine delivers a wonderful vocal section, “When the sun is rising here. I am roaming in the light. And when the darkness rules your fear. I am roaming in the night. Resolution anchored in. Deepness of the holy ground. I am with the wind and clouds. Gazing all around.
The essence of the lighthouse is. All among the lonely. Baring in dark times, forever see. Shine, forever shine. The spirit divine. I am the lighthouse. Shine, forever shine. The spirit divine. I am the lighthouse!” Lanvall plays a very good electric guitar solo, with bits of what I remember from “The Bonding,” epic song, sprinkled in; from my favorite album of the same name.

“Spark of the Ever flame,” is the epic suite of tracks that concludes the album. It is separated into four parts. Part I – “Let Time Begin,” which is a beautiful orchestrated more than a minute instrumental. Part II – “The Winding Road of Evermore,” opens as a metal electric guitar and drums soundscape instrumental, until Sabine sings, “A peal of thunder, cascading light. A road began out of the veils of night. The breath of stars, the vital spark. A flarepath led out of the dark.
The old alliance then began. A stroke of genius, one masterplan. The way of grace for all mankind. An endless story was designed. Alight with passion to new frontiers. Flamboyant pathways, the vision clears. The unknown is the main string to explore. There we came. The spark of the ever flame. Holy lore. The winding road to evermore. We became. One spark of the ever flame. One dream, one vow.
The time is here and now!” Lanvall plays a blistering lead electric guitar solo to complete this section. Then, on to Part III – “Per Aspera Ad Astra.” This is mostly a beautifully orchestrated instrumental, complete with all the instruments you would expect in a full orchestra. Finally, Part IV – “Where it Ends, Is Where it Starts,” Sabine sings to soft acoustic guitar, before the metal soundscape re-awakens and roars forth, “All ablaze, the light within. Out of dark, let time begin. Where it ends is where it starts. The sea of souls, the big pond, we’re all a part. Every ending carries the promise of a new birth. Before it’s calming down into silence. The seed for a new beginning lies in the soil of the Earth. When life will return, it’s based on compliance. Into the afterglow of life. Although it’s forlorn, it is the ever-turning wheel. Too many distractions in your mind. All the dependent lost. In thought have signed the deal. Caught in the web it left them entwined. On and on and on. We’re moving, heading on. Into the afterglow of life. It is where we are.” Lanvall unleashed one more killer electric guitar solo. Then, Sabine returns, “All ablaze, the light within. Out of dark, let time begin. Where it ends is where it starts. The sea of souls, the big pond, we’re all a part. We’re out of space, out of time. Before we return to our prime. The stars, the grand canopy. The comedown of memory. We decide for the game. The spark of the ever flame!”

I have been anticipating the release of Edenbridge’s Set the Dark on Fire, since it was first announced, back in the fall of 2025. It is an amazing album and a return to the power of their best albums’ The Shine, My Earth Dream, and The Grand Design. However, it is not the powerful follow up to The Bonding, my favorite album, that I was hoping to hear. “Bonded by the Light,” “Divine Dawn Reveal,” “Where the Wild Things Are,” “Tears of the Prophets, “ “Our Place Among the Stars,” and the title song, “Set the Dark on Fire,” are future songs to be included in the next Chronicles of Eden. But, maybe, someday, they will re-create a symphony for the original movie of Lost Horizon, by Frank Capra, from the 1930s. It could be epic and full of stories to sing about, as well as an incredible land of discovery and mystical adventures. I’ll keep waiting and hoping.

Album Track List:

The Ghostship Diaries – 6:20
Cosmic Embrace – 3:58
Where the Wild Things Are – 4:42
Tears of the Prophets – 1:26
Our Place Among the Stars – 7:17
Set the Dark on Fire – 5:13
Bonded by the Light – 4:24
Divine Dawn Reveal – 1:07
Lighthouse – 5:31
Spark of the Ever flame – (Suite)
1. Let Time Begin – 1:13
1. The Winding Road of Evermore – 5:45
1. Per Aspera Ad Astra – 2:05
1. Where it Ends, Is Where it Starts – 4:34