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After being very impressed by Edenbridge's Solitaire back in 2010, I've felt their output since has been a bit hit-or-miss. The Bonding and Dynamind were ambitious and perhaps the band overreached, while The Great Momentum was closer to their core sound, if on the unadventurous side. Shangri-La is Edenbridge's eleventh studio album, and it sounds to me like things have gelled the way they did on some of their earlier, celebrated efforts. Their cinematic version of symphonic/power metal is on full display on songs like "At First Light" with its big choirs and heartstring-tugging melodies. "The Call of Eden," "Freedom is a Roof Made of Stars" and "Somewhere Else but Here" are the kind of singable, fist-pumping power metal anthems we've come to love from Edenbridge. Lanvall's guitar and keyboard harmonies give Sabine Edelsbacher's voice the perfect platform from which to let the choruses fly high. Even the ballads "Savage Land" and "Arcadia (The Great Escape)" avoid the syrupy, saccharine motifs we might have heard in the past. Shangri-La ends with the 16+ minute epic, "The Bonding (Part 2)," which you might be tempted to assume is the one place on the album the band let their vision run away from their execution, but not so. This is a well-put together piece that possesses an emotional ebb and flow that enhances the song to great effect and the result is it never gets boring. Edenbridge have created some great albums in the past and with Sharngri-La show they are still capable of doing just that.