Metalcatto
Edenbridge would be the kind of band Elyna would normally cover, but she’s on vacation, so you’ll have to settle for my snarky takes in the meantime. The big question from the start was simple enough: what can Set the Dark on Fire add to an already long and fairly successful career? I’m not sure the answer is entirely straightforward, but I’ll do my best to help with some balanced and absolutely not hateful commentary… who am I kidding? This is Power Metal, after all.
I’ve got you, though. Despite my well-documented disdain for the genre, I still think Dark has something interesting to offer when done right. This album has plenty of memorable moments, especially in its first half. A fair warning is in order: this is a long album. Fourteen tracks, and not all of them are short rides. In fact, most of them aim for epic proportions and take their time to shine. If anything, Edenbridge has followed a similar path to what Epica did on its latest releases, pushing the heaviness up a notch while dialing down the corniness (thank you, Satan).
If Set the Dark on Fire were meant to function as a kind of compilation of everything Edenbridge has shown throughout its career, then it does a respectable job. You get aggressive tracks, catchy ones, melodramatic passages, and power ballads, all neatly packed together. Everything is here in generous amounts, perhaps to the point of feeling a bit bloated if I’m being honest. That said, I’m sure this is exactly what hardcore fans and genre geeks want when they start arguing passionately about who broke which obscure rule during their next board game night. This is precisely why I stick to video games and sports; someone else can keep track of those rulebooks.
If Set the Dark on Fire had wrapped things up around track eight, I would probably have loved it. Unfortunately, the album keeps going longer than it needs to. It’s not terrible or offensively bad by any means, but the initial sense of spectacle starts to wear off faster than it should. There’s only so many times you can hit me with those same vocal patterns or string arrangements and expect genuine surprise. Reviewers are mostly dead inside as it is; we need either creativity or brevity to stay engaged, and this album doesn’t always provide either.
Still, Elyna would absolutely love this. It’s consistent, reliable Symphonic/Power Metal that does its job the same way a good burger makes you less hungry. Just don’t expect anything revolutionary. Edenbridge clearly follows the philosophy of “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.” I can’t really hate that approach, especially since I don’t make a living off music, but it does make me wonder how much Power and Symphonic Metal still have to offer beyond being a very comfortable safe space for cosplaying.
Label: Steamhammer
Release date: January 16, 2026
Website: https://www.edenbridge.org/
Country: Austria
Score: 3.0/5.0
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