There are plenty of harmonized guitar parts thrown over heavy riffs. There is a very modern attitude in these songs due not only to playing style but to the equipment used.
The guitars and amps could easily be in any number of modern death metal bands (hence the sterile vibe). That aside the songs are a blend of dark and imposing mixed with the more morose and somewhat generic. The melodies and leads work very well over the more brutal rhythmic passages. The leads are utilized in familiar patterns and generally always harmonized.
The vocals are a throwback to Amorphis' heavier days i.e. really deep (especially with the dirtier guitar/bass tones) with some clean spoken/moaned word (ala-MDB) sparsely thrown in. The last song shows him crooning. The drums fit the music but aren't really expressive. The few keyboards are thankfully just background noise.
The tempo is moderately slow and plodding to the point where it seems like all the songs are the same speed after a while.The artwork is a mix between the first Stolen Babies album cover and perhaps a more sinister Tim Burton design. Unique, amusing, simple and very stylized. Not having heard the first release it's hard to judge if the quality has gotten better or stayed the same. Given that both albums were released the same year it's probably a safe bet they're more or less the same.
Over all this isn't a bad album. There is a enough variance in the songs to keep the average listener fairly engaged but probably not enough to give this album repeated listens. This gets a 5/10.
Words: Grimm Doom
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