(Rated this album with 10 out of 10) Reviewed by
William McGuinnes
from Arlington Heights, IL USA
This is one of the best albums I've heard in a long time. I can't keep this out of my cd player because it just never gets old or boring like many cds do. Everything about this cd is great. These guys play a good mix of different kinds of metal. They mix melodic death, black, power, and thrash metal. Although if I had to pick one overall style I would go with melodic death. As for the band members, they all do a great job. The vocals are more of a high pitched scream (a death metal scream, not a power metal scream) rather than the traditional growl, and it compliments the music perfectly. Now comes one of the big highlights of the album (in my opinion), the guitar work. The guitarists are great, playing fast thrash-like riffs most of the time and usually playing a lot of notes rather than power chords during the verses and sometimes choruses. Not only that, but the guitar solos on this album are great. They are fast and very well written. While I am on the subject of solos, I should also mention the keyboard solos. They are just as explosive and skillfully played as the guitar solos. Plus, there are keyboard solos in pretty much every song. I also think it is really cool when the guitars and keyboards switch leads with each other. They do this very well at the end of "Kissing The Shadows". The keyboards also aren't just used for solos, they are used very often in all the songs and give the music a haunting, black-metalish feel to it. They are also played perfectly with the riffs and create a really dark (but enjoyable) atmosphere. The bassist also does a good job and can be heard pretty well because of the albums good production. The drums do a great job of keeping things on track and go along perfectly with the riffs. As for the songs, most of them are fast to mid tempo which are mostly influenced by thrash and melodic death, with a little power and black metal mixed in too. Although they take more of a black/doom metal turn on the song "Every Time I Die" because of its slower riffs and because the lead singer's vocals sound more evil on this one then on other songs. But, the variety only adds to how incredibly good this cd is. So, with cool riffs, amazing solos, good drum and bass lines, and vocals that fit the music perfectly, this is one hell of an album. Any metal head that doesn't have this is really missing out on some great music.
