XANDRIA opens an exciting chapter with the eighth studio album, The Wonders Still Awaiting. Mastermind Marco Heubaum returns with a new lineup and leads the band once again into wonderful spheres, without renouncing their characteristic trademarks. The impressive vocal wealth of Ambre Vourvahis – ranging from rock grit, operatic highs and even death metal growls – opens the unit’s sound to a wider palette of colors. Songs like the opening epic “Two Worlds”, “The Wonders Still Awaiting” and “Ghosts” manifest the thematic mood of the album while constructing incredible soundscapes of pure symphonic metal. XANDRIA addresses issues of social inequality and the quest for a just world. “Paradise” showcases some of the album’s strongest hooks, captivating with great metallic pop melodies. The veil of various influences is lifted once more in “Illusion Is Their Name”, dashing all deception with heavy power metal vibes. Tracks like “Your Stories I’ll Remember” and “Scars” show the intimate side of XANDRIA on one hand, while combining rhythmic heaviness on the other. The latter is reminiscent of a James Bond theme, dressed in a heavy musical soundscape. The epic nine minute album closer “Astéria”, featuring Greek lyrics written by Ambre Vourvahis, lands as the album’s exclamation point, proving with a grand finish that the five-piece has fearlessly started a revolution in the symphonic metal genre – commencing an impressive new era of XANDRIA with The Wonders Still Awaiting. The Wonders Still Awaiting tracklist:
1. Two Worlds
2. Reborn
3. You Will Never Be Our God
4. The Wonders Still Awaiting
5. Ghosts
6. Your Stories I’ll Remember
7. My Curse Is My Redemption
8. Illusion Is Their Name
9. Paradise
10. Mirror Of Time
11. Scars
12. The Maiden And The Child
13. Astèria XANDRIA live:
Beyond Dark Waters 2023
w/ Delain
17.11.23 NL – Zoetermeer / De Boerderij
18.11.23 NL – Enschede / Metropol – Sold Out
19.11.23 BL – St. Niklaas / De Casino The Wonders Still Awaiting Tour 2023
w/ Phantom Elite, Skarlett Riot
26.11.23 UK – Manchester / Club Academy
27.11.23 UK – London / The Dome
28.11.23 DE – Bochum / Matrix
29.11.23 DE – Nürnberg / Hirsch
30.11.23 CH – Münchenstein / Rockfact
02.12.23 CZ – Zlín / Winter Masters Of Rock*
03.12.23 DE – Erfurt / From Hell
*Festival show without Phantom Elite, Skarlett Riot Festival 2024
31.07 – 03.08.24 DE – Wacken / Wacken Open Air |