Album Review: Heart Healer - The Metal Opera

More often than not, it seems, we wind up hearing songs penned by Magnus Karlsson in a given year. He has been remarkably prolific in the melodic metal world, including two albums last year. One was the combination of Russell Allen and Anette Olzon that was my second favorite album of the year, and the other was one of his 'solo' records that features several guest vocalists to bring his vision to life. He was worked with so many singers, and written so many albums, it a bit surprising to realize that Heart Healer is his first foray into the multi-vocalist concept album scene. Those have been popping up everywhere ever since Avantasia and Ayreon became so popular, and now one of the best melodic songwriters is putting his hat into the ring.

Befitting the epic nature of a concept album, Magnus tries his hand at more orchestral arrangements, expanding the scope beyond his usual fare. It does give the album a more cinematic feeling, but the shift seeps into the songwriting in expected ways, and the results may not be what was intended. On the opening "Awake", Magnus tries to shoehorn in one of his typically bombastic choruses, but everything between those bursts of metallic melody feel disjointed from the writing style. The orchestral elements don't quite mesh with his guitars, and the verses plod along with more emphasis on the backing sounds than on Adrienne Cowan's vocals. It doesn't really work for me the way most of Magnus' best songs do.

We also come face-to-face with a decision others have made that still confounds me. Magnus additionally uses the opportunity to take some more progressive turns, using a few extra instrumental sections to build the drama during the songs. Being that this is a concept album, which means it's trying to tell a story, I don't understand how instrumental diversions serve that purpose very well. He at least doesn't include a fully instrumental song as some have done *cough* Trond Holter *cough*, but there is more time spent not advancing the story than there should be. It's no different than a movie with extraneous scenes that should have been left on the cutting room floor. Story should trump everything.

Sorry for the tangent, but that is a pet peeve I can't shake. Back to the main thrust now.

Magnus is a great songwriter, and I have enjoyed a lot of what he has done over the years, but Heart Healer is perhaps the least interesting album he has made. I hate saying that, since a dramatic album featuring Noora Louhino and Anette Olzon is something I should absolutely adore, but it sounds to my ears like Magnus has tried so hard to make an epic album that the effort choked his abilities. Listening to "Come Out Of The Shadows", the atmosphere is great, but when it finally builds to the chorus, it's..... just flat. The performance is passionate, but the melody is weak, and the trade-off of hook for power was a mistake.

The highlight of the album comes in the middle with Noora's solo outing "Into The Unknown". Her raw power elevates the song, and the overlapping vocals through the end of the song are a cascade of wonderful possibilities. She unlocks the potential of this album, her voice fitting the songwriting best of the cast. The others do a fine job, but not all seven of them have voices unique enough to separate themselves. That's a common flaw in the casting of these albums, and I do think a bit more diversity in the vocal tones could have helped make the various roles more easily identifiable.

As the album's hour moves along, my main thought is that the concept got the better of Magnus. He was trying so hard to do something new, something *more*, that he forgot about what he does best. The hooks and melodies across these songs aren't as strong as on either album he released last year, and what I gleaned of the story isn't interesting enough to make me want to listen to these songs instead of his better work. This is why concept records are hard. You not only have to find a way to tell a complete story through lyrics without them sounding hackneyed, but you have to find the right people to get the characters across, and you have to have songs that hold up without any of that.

Heart Healer might be intended as an epic statement of what Magnus Karlsson is capable of as a songwriter, but what it says is the opposite; that Magnus Karlsson does what he does very well, and maybe his style doesn't translate as well to 'weightier' endeavors. Heart Healer is interesting as a theoretical exercise, but I can't say it's anywhere among the best work of Magnus Karlsson's career.