This was a hell of a journey throughout 2025. Looking back at all of the music I listened to from then was pretty nostalgic, and thankfully was disease-free! With today’s subject, it’s got a lot of the trappings of Skycrest from the end of last month: it’s upbeat, warm & fuzzy, and full of all sorts of positives vibes.....but it’s different somehow. Yeah it’s upbeat, but there’s twinkling lights everywhere. Yeah it’s warm & fuzzy, but you’re given a wooly sweater and some cocoa (With the little marshmallows of course). Even the positive vibes are different, as snow comes gently down from the sky, and you swear you’re hearing jingle bells in the distance. On top of that, but this album is the second reason why my top 5 list from 2020 was delayed until near the very end. So, put on some nice clothes, get into the seasonal mood (Despite it being the middle of August), and enjoy my review of Majestica’s second outing, A Christmas Carol. Let’s begin!
Background
With his old band resurrected in 2019 with their first album Above The Sky, Tommy & the rest of Majestica set off on tours & appearances all over Europe, and then 2020 came along. Derailing effectively any plans, it didn’t stop the band from producing music. By the October of that year, the band announced their second album, A Christmas Carol. As said in the band’s announcement of it:
“It's pure symphonic power metal in the true Majestica spirit along with elements inspired by the likes of Twilight Force, Rhapsody, Alan Silvestri, Danny Elfman and John Williams.”
In regards to the musical direction for the record, Tommy said:
“Once again people can expect real power metal, but this time it's a bit more symphonic and epic compared to our previous album Above the Sky. When it comes to the symphonic parts we've taken it a bit further and included a lot more orchestral instruments, including tubular bells, glockenspiel and sleigh bells to really get that Christmas sound to it.”
A Christmas Carol would be released on the 4th of December in 2020. The same day when Skycrest from Iron Savior came out if you can believe it, and was the 2nd reason why I delayed my top 5 album list that year.
Basic Description
Ho-Ho-HOLY SHIT! ***
As good as Majestica’s first outing was with Above The Sky, there was that ever so slight off quality with the audio, and the whole thing comes across as random tracks put together (Even if it’s all tons of fun). A Christmas Carol, on the other hand, is perhaps the band’s most focused record to date. Gone is the patchwork nature of their previous release, and instead is one solid story from beginning to end. Sure, the tale of Scrooge and his redemption on Christmas Eve & Day is known by practically everybody that celebrates the season, but it’s the little things that make it different. Retelling the story through Power Metal makes it much more grand & epic, and the usage of so many Christmas instruments turns the seasonal knob to 11. Even during the more emotional parts, there’s this feeling of awesomeness that you can’t quite describe. On top of that, A Christmas Carol is one of the few pieces of seasonal media you can experience outside of December, and it’s not.....too weird.
Best Track
Like I said in my overview from a few years ago, The Joy Of Christmas just hits me so hard. A moment in the story that’s told from Bob Cratchet’s perspective, it’s also the least metallic song on the album. Most of the instrumentation is beautiful piano work, some orchestral-like playing, and some Christmas sound effects. Tommy’s singing is pretty soft throughout the whole thing (Even though it’s fantastic), and it’s not until towards the end where we get some intensity from the guitars & drums. Yet, it’s that softness with a hint of hardness that makes it work so well: Bob Cratchet’s side of things should be warm and fuzzy.....even when you’re raising the horns.
The Joy Of Christmas
Worst Track
Also like I said in my overview from a few years ago, A Majestic Christmas Theme just feels like a waste of time. Make not mistake: it’s not bad when it comes to the instrumentation, which is fantastic. Nor is the recording & production bad, and I don’t hear even the smallest of audio errors. What makes it the worst is that it feels like it was put in just to be some padding, and just stretches the story for a few extra minutes. The instrumental at the beginning of the album makes much more sense, as it sets up the story to come, but the second one is just a recap of the entire tale we just heard. Again, quality wise it’s lovely, but isn’t worth much else.
A Majestic Christmas Theme
Other
If you’re curious about listening to this album, then click on the link below:
A Christmas Carol
Overall Impression & Rating
A Christmas Carol absolutely deserved all the praise it got when it first release, and still continues to do some to this day by fans. It was a perfect example of a band-aid that heals not only the body, but the mind as well. It took something classic, turned it into something new yet familiar, and slathered so much yuletide warm & fuzzy all over it to make it feel like it’s Christmas all year round. Even if the final track feels like it’s just stretching things out, the overall experience is truly perfect. I guarantee that yule love it!
A Christmas Carol gets a 10 out of 10.
And that was my review of Majestica’s second record, A Christmas Carol. Full of seasonal magic, it definitely needed to be on my list in 2020. Never be afraid to listen to this in December, or even after. And with that everyone, my look at my top 5 albums of 2020 is done! However, despite all of my albums from that year being covered, I still have one last release from then to take a look at.....and it’s one that I should have talked about back then & payed attention to. See you all at the end of the month!
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The description came from this:
https://www.metal-archives.com/reviews/Majestica/A_Christmas_Carol/891183/Larry6990/330688
Also, I know about the extended edition. It contains two extra tracks that do flesh out the story a little more, but I own the original version only.
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