Timeless Departure

What to say of this…it’s supposed to be metal, I suppose, but the guitars are hardly audible. The synth is at the forefront of this entire album, to the point where it becomes ridiculous. Imagine some of Van Halen´s 80´s efforts or Europe’s “The Final Countdown” when it comes to synth-overdosing, and you have the idea. If you were to remove them, you would be stuck with an album not entirely without its merits, some decent drumming and a few interesting songs with classical influences, as well as some Iron Maiden-like guitar playing at times. Comparisons with Children of Bodom are clearly ludicrous – they are nowhere near their competence in sheer song writing, and they are not nearly as infectious and to the point. They come off more like a wannabe black metal band on a very bad day.

The screamy, raspy vocals are also drenched in the production somewhere, along with most of their good ideas. Although not really a bad album if you focus on the pure musical side of things, after four-five songs it becomes damn near unlistenable due to the thick layers of synthesizer worship that stands like a wall between yourself and an enjoyable listening session. The parts when the other instruments are allowed to shine through are actually enough to ensure that, should they be able to find a better production next time around, the result might be well worth listening to. On this occasion, that is hardly the case.