The Venn diagram of people who like symphonic metal and people who like Christmas music is most certainly not a circle, but it is statistically probable that there is some kind of overlapping area in there. Is From Spirits and Ghosts (Score for a Dark Christmas) (earMUSIC) the perfect album for this niche crowd? NO.

Since Tarja famously served many a year as frontwoman of the symphonic metal giants Nightwish it will come as no surprise that the vocals are outstanding and the music is full of all the symphonic but none of the metal, thanks to Emmy Award-winning composer James Dooley. The somewhat gloomy atmosphere, likewise, comes as no surprise, as the subtitle for the album makes it quite clear what to expect on that front. What may instead come as a surprise is that in some cases Tarja actually makes it work. ‘Deck the Halls’ in a minor key is actually pretty creepy and produces that lovely Nightmare Before Christmas vibe, while original song ‘Together’ is actually quite nice, even though it does sound both a bit tame and a bit unlike Tarja’s usual full-operatic style. ‘Amazing Grace’ has a similar electro-vibe as new-agers ERA, and goes full ham, while ‘Pie Jesu’ would have been stunning if they had added some complexity, preferably going for the intertwined lines of church-music instead of the rather straight-laced approach.

But while a classic song like ‘O Come, O Come, Emmanuel’ sounds pretty amazing with that tragic cello, there is no way to dress up ‘We Three Kings’ that prevents the lyrics from sounding corny as fuck. ‘Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas’, ‘What Child Is This’ and ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas’ suffer from a horrible imbalance between tone and lyrics, and there is no excuse for the disgrace that is ‘Feliz Navidad’.

In making a Christmas album directed at people who do not enjoy the happy spirit of Christmas, Tarja has made the monumental error of assuming those people do actually like Christmas carols, or at least like hearing heavily butchered versions of those songs that stores like to play over and over to force you to participate in rampant consumerism. This could have been a delightful album with classical songs in a deliciously dark atmosphere, but while having a promising start it largely misses the mark.

5.0/10

LORRAINE LYSEN