The Quest: Review

An album, three years in the making, has finally come out... last month. Much as I wanted to get it, I was worried my phone would get the wrong impression of downloading music that wasn't on Google Play. Luckily, November 2nd came and Leah fans got the big news: THE QUEST WAS AVAILABLE ON ALL STREAMING SERVICES! I immediately purchased it.
Before I go any further, let me mention that, when it comes to reviews for symphonic black metal or Celtic metal (let alone fantasy-inspired metal), there's always the tendency to do comparisons. Whether it's the professional critic comparing to a bigger, established name band or the fan on YouTube comparing some Goth sound to The Lord of the Rings, we always have the instinct to do comparisons. Why? To find comfortable familiarity, some sort of common ground. Which is one thing that irritates me about how most Americans like their music, then they look at me strange when I describe the music, not comparing to other bands, per se, but to certain cultural influences and specific music genres, even when it's something one has never heard of before (mentioned "techno" in regards to another band to a co-worker today, he'd never heard it). With Leah, the style's best described as "Celtic metal with fantasy inspirations" or "Celtic fantasy metal").
This album, by far, is the biggest departure from her norm. I don't mean to say she leaves Celtic metal for *gulp* country music (terrifying thought!!!!!), but, compared to her previous albums and EP (plus digital singles), this album does have its own spin on the genre. No two songs are the same. From the not-radio-friendly-lengthy album opener to the short, yet beautiful album closing ballad, every song has a purpose in how it sounds. Some of the songs have a direct inspiration on where the lyrics come from.
From the announcement of The Quest, Leah made it clear that it would be a departure (of sorts) from her previous projects. For one, this would be a conceptual album. Maybe playing Skyrim effected this? No, she doesn't hide the fact she's a Skyrim addict. So, this album is the musical equivalent of a big quest for a hero to go through. Like better, not-quite-stereotypical stories, there's challenges and hope. I keep getting the feeling "Ghost on a Throne" is inspired by Aragorn meeting the Ghost Army's king. That, in itself, is a nice challenge as that scene dealt with making a near-impossible promise, then keeping to the promise.
After the first three tracks, the album threw a curveball for me, "Heir" started off sounding like a Christmas song, then it got heavy, which gladdened my heart with the creativity in it. It's very hard picking out any song on this as my "favorite," as it were, but "Heir" is a top contender at this point.
At this point, after multiple times listening to this, I still have yet to find any flaws worth mentioning, which is rare for me, even to nitpick about.

5/5