Sacrificium is the first release from Xandria with their new frontwoman Dianne van Giersbergen, and it was perhaps always going to come under unfair scrutiny, as seems to be the unfortunate norm when it comes to bands having lineup changes (in particular new singers) but for what it is, it’s a fairly good release. Xandria have certainly chosen a winner with Dianne, because she has this beautifully warm tone to her voice and gives a powerful performance throughout the album, so there’s no issues there, but there’s just something about the album that feels like it’s lacking that special something.
Sure, the songs are good, but there’s nothing largely memorable about them and none of them have that extra spark to catch your attention and give the track that extra lift – indeed, none of the songs really stand out and it feels like Xandria have faded into the background of the symphonic metal genre rather than created something unique with their own ‘stamp’ or quirk to it, so to speak.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t any good tracks on the album, because Betrayer and Little Red Relish are both particularly good, with Little Red Relish sounding like it’s been created for being performed live with its huge instrumentation and catchy chorus, but it just feels like Xandria have got a better album in them than this.
6/10
