This is atmospheric/gothic tinged metal from The Netherlands with decent female singing over midpaced tempos that let the rhythm section and synths do as much work as the guitars oftentimes. Comparisons to Lacuna Coil wouldn't be too far off the mark, though obviously this isn't as strong as Lacuna Coil. I think the singing is pretty good, and when the male backing vocals come in with some harmonies I kind of like it. The singing could definitely be better, but it's the songwriting and recording that I find least effective here. The sound is alright but needs more brightness and punch. Everything sort of rests in a thick midrange, and it works for the most part, but the bass and synths really muddy things up and can get lost in the shuffle, and the guitar needs a harder edged crunch to really be forceful as well. I can live with the somewhat flimsy drum tones, but everything needs a little extra polish here. The songs themselves pretty much all run four to six minutes and mix up the dynamics with softer passages where rolling drums and electronic sounding synths lay the foundation, contrasted by thicker chord progressions and your typical plodding rhythms that are a little catchy and a little somber all at once. Honestly the more I listen to this the more I enjoy the vocal performance, because she's got a good range and really writes some nice melodies and arrangements that outshine the musical backdrop quite a bit. The songs sort of sound too similar to one another and follow similar structures, making for a bit of a boring listen that can be frustrating at times. "Child" is bit darker and more diverse, and I think it works out to be a nice song, while the orchestral synths in "Shadows" actually build up the intensity nicely and "Pale Light" is redeemed by a great chorus. But other than that? There aren't any songs that catch my attention. And I'm not into the layout at all. It gets the job done, but it's a little tacky. All of the pages have gothic styled architecture layered with images of pale flowers and things like statues or bats, which... well, it can look cheesy. The band members are also totally decked out in gothic gear, which is cheesy to me, but that's their thing, so whatever. I just think the overall appearance creates an immature aesthetic here. The lyrics follow suit thematically/atmospherically, and of course I find little interest in them. They seem to wander from personal issues to more narrative types of stories that all have a middleground sort of bleakness to them. I don't mind the fact that this is a little unoriginal. I like Lacuna Coil and feel like there's room for more of that stuff out there, and this isn't a replica of that, but these folks would really need to put more work into their songwriting to impress me. Right now the vocal lines are all I find myself appreciating.
[Transmission/The End]
Running time - 47:47, Tracks: 10
[Notable tracks: Pale Light, Child, Shadows]
The End Records - http://www.theendrecords.com
