Review by JD on August 8, 2011.

Female fronted bands have been one of my hidden joys for a long time. Ever since I was twelve, and I heard The Plasmatics with legendary metal/punk queen the late Wendy O Williams showing off just how the ladies of metal can rock harder than most. I have wanted to see more metal women with this amazing levels of talent. When I saw that Orkyd Orchestra was just that, that was the first one I threw on. That was where my excitement ended... and I had to listen closely. I had a mixed bag to go through here.

Germany’s Goth/Power metal outfit Orkyd Orchestra was founded by ex members of Encyclia after the founder of this band moved on to play ‘other’ styles of music. The remaining members wanted to make sure that this bands collection of material was not going to go to waste so they recorded four of the songs under the new moniker they have chosen.

The four tracks here are musically impressive as hell, but it is a problem with the vocals that made me hit pause more than once. You could tell that Katy Gollner has the talent to match up with anyone today, but the vocals power for this tight band was lacking. Whether this is a vocalist that is growing into her part in the band, or the recording that makes the vocals almost non-existent, it hurts the music that is at the heart of this project. I am not saying that she is not talented in any way...far from it, in truth... I just struggle with the lack of power Ms. Gollner has going throughout the four songs.

In short, I love the music, hate that the recording makes the vocals very muddied or just to vanish from the album. I would love to hear this EP re-recorded and perhaps given a couple more songs as well. I have this deep gut feeling that the way it has been produced is the problem, and that this band has a shot at being international headbanging superstars if the vocals were brought out. It is a pity... but it is what it is. Orkyd Orchestra can be a viable act.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship:8
Atmosphere: 8
Production: 6
Originality: 7.5
Overall: 8

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Review by Adam M on July 5, 2016.

Katatonia's newest finds them delving into a more progressive sound than on the past recordings. It has an undeniable easy listening flavour, though the tracks themselves are actually somewhat difficult to appreciate. I had to listen to this album a few times before it began to sink in.

This mode of depressive music does have an emotional impact on the listener, however. The effect is a depressing one for the most part. When you combine the emotions with some progressiveness, a fairly interesting listen is inherent. However, this hasn't completely dug into the emotions like earlier material or fully realized the progressive aspect like some releases from that genre. This means the music is stuck at halfway and not able to have a complete impact in any particular direction. Some songs like the single 'Serein' are more effective than others at portraying the passion than others. However, many songs just don’t seem to be completely committed to atmosphere or progressiveness. This leaves a quandary that the album seems like a bridge to some later progressive leanings that might be more fully committed in that respect. There is still a lot of music to like here and most songs are able to convey their vision to some extent. It's just that this seems like the first album from Katatonia that seems like it’s partially stuck in between different visions.

The emotional moments, while sometimes gripping, just don't seem as fulfilling as something from their Last Fair Deal Gone Down album, for example. Thus there could be more of an impact with the songs then there is. Don’t get me wrong there is plenty of interesting music on this album and it is another solid entry for Katatonia. I just don't think The Fall of Hearts is the very best that this band is capable of creating. I hold high standards for this band, however, and there is a great deal of worthwhile material to be found here.

Rating: 8 out of 10