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Symphonic Metal
Steamhammer/SPV
New Release
Edenbridge
Set The Dark On Fire
Reviewed in issue:
114
Release Date:
16 Jan 2026
Reviewed by:
🟣 Alan Holloway
For Fans Of
Nightwish
Tarja
Epica
Top three tracks
• Set The Dark On Fire
• Lighthouse
• Bonded By The Light
Fireworks Verdict:
‘Set The Dark On Fire’ is without a doubt a worthy entry in Edenbridge’s library.
THE REVIEW
Words Of Wisdom!
Always reliable with their release schedule, this is Austrian anglophiles (Edenbridge is a town in Kent) Edenbridge’s twelfth album since their debut ‘Sunrise In Eden’ back in 2000, and it’s a credit to them that they’ve yet to disappoint, happy to get on with it without pissing about.
So yes, the elephant in the room is that Edenbridge are yet another female-fronted Symphonic Rock band, though to their credit they were there at the beginning of the genre. Guitarist Lanvall and vocalist Sabine have been there since their inception, and the band is very much theirs, something that’s helped with their remarkable consistency.
"and it’s a credit to them that they’ve yet to disappoint"
‘Set The Dark On Fire’ doesn’t take the band anywhere new, but it’s a very impressive listen, clocking in at over fifty-minutes, and not dipping at any point. Instead of a long-ass epic track, Edenbridge’s big finale, ‘Spark Of The Everflame’, is divided into four parts, though we all know it’s really a thirteen-minute song in disguise.
The music, in general, follows the Symphonic Metal playbook, with plenty of cool guitar from Lanvall, as well as weird instruments popping up… because that’s a thing he does. Sabine sounds excellent throughout, giving real emotional heft to, for example, ‘Our Place Among The Stars’, one of the slower songs that impressively stays entertaining for seven-minutes. As ever with me, though, I prefer the more aggressive numbers, and Edenbridge still know how to get fists pumping, with songs like ‘Lighthouse’ and the title-track, both of which have a lovely chugging riff underpinning the whole.
"I prefer the more aggressive numbers, and Edenbridge still know how to get fists pumping"
It’s long, and it’s full of song titles that sound like something you find in a fifteen-year-old Goth’s poetry book, but ‘Set The Dark On Fire’ is without a doubt a worthy entry in Edenbridge’s library.
Reviewer:
🟣 Alan Holloway
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