Hints of early Draconian (sans the female vocals) and oddly The Sins of Thy Beloved (only better, tighter and listen-able) mesh with The Gathering (Always...era) and Ashes You Leave (The Passage Back to Life era). Downtrodden leads drive each song over more melodic guitar work which is accented by atmospheric keyboards. The session violin work is beautiful and avoids the cliché's and sloppy gypsy nonsense that TSOTB ruined every album with.
Mournful mid-range clean vocals flit around more traditional guttural howls and semi-spoken words. Their not as menacing or powerful as their peers but their not as one dimensional either. The other instruments; bass and drums obviously, don't do much to impress but rather blend in to each song accordingly. The piano work is standard in its passion and general melancholia. Subtle key strokes melt together with the somber violins only barely avoiding being cheesy.It's odd that the violins were only from session members as they tend to take on larger lead rolls.
The biggest criticisms here are the band tend to wear their influences on their sleeves. There is a fair amount of originality but they come to close to their idols too often.
Over all the music is very enjoyable. To call it laid back wouldn't be completely accurate. It's more of a slow succumbing to an eventual fate and simply taking its disheartened time to get there. This band has a lot of room to grow and should satisfy bands of the style.....7.5/10
Words: Grimmdoom
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