Karma - Pointless shitty electronics followed by IF trademark melodic intro. Some neat guitar work through the song, unfortunately buried in the mix and below vocals. And vocals, not sure they work in this song. Catchy tune with some energy and great signature melody, but that's it. Deliver Us type single. 7/10
Heartrage - Nice intro melody and groovy drums, then some clayman-ish rhythm guitar with good vocal melodies. Cool break and great catchy chorus (lyrics are a bit gay). Another piece of IF sound towards the end of the song. Another cool slow break then more decent melodic work on guitar. Strong catchy tune with nice dynamics going on between the different parts. 8.5/10
Here To Save You - Melancholic acoustic intro, classic heavy riff kicks in with some tasty drumming, then some of the best vocal stuff on this album. Unfortunately chorus is very generic, music and vocals both. Out of nowhere - great little solo. All going well - but then we get 2.50 and that awful totally unnecessary electronics. Fuck, how did that even end up on the actual album? Chorus, riff, end. Solid tune with some highlights and some lows. 7/10
Muted Life - Epic beginning with nice strings and great guitar melody. Not this could be called something that resembles symphonic power or something. Nice verse with some nice drumming. Epic chorus with so much emotion and power. Solid solo on this one. Nothing spectacular and really memorable, but not a bit above the average. I like this song. 8.5/10
Closure - Now this is why we love Jesper. Dark and gay little melodies and acoustics. Electronics work on this one, for once. Great vocals with pure emotion. Then, chorus that could fill stadiums if Cyhra was called Iron Maiden, Metallica or Aerosmith or whatever. Solo has a nice melody, but we're missing some epic, majestic part in the end. This whole song just works, and I'm singing this in my head right now. 9.5/10
Letter To Myself - Sledgehammer riff in ASOP style. Decent verse. Great catchy chorus with some great drumming that really fits. Verse, chorus etc. We're getting a bit formulaic here. Solo just didn't live up to its potential. Good rhythm, good beginning, but then nothing happens. Another single song. 7/10
Dark Clarity - Sweet melody in the intro, fucked up by that electronics that pop up here and there. Now, vocal melodies are quite mediocre here, but this song has some speed and intensity and it works for me at this point of the album. Another song where drummer really shines. Guy know the job. Nice wah in the melodic parts towards the end of the song (Bjorn, please take note). OK song. Nothing special. 7/10
Holding Your Breath - LOL, first few seconds (electronics and vocals) sound like Linking Park. Then some awesome melodic/power metal chorus. Not a fan of those high vocals, but it works for this one. Like the rest of the album, rhythm guitar does unremarkable but really effective job. Nothing special on its own, but adds to song well. Sweet solo, great sound, great choice of notes, great wah. Fun thing - sounds like something Bjorn would write for SOAPF/SC/Battles if he had inspiration. Not really convinced 'bout the intro, but the rest of the song is great. 8/10
Rescue Ride - Nice piano, nice verse vocal melody (almost like rapping). Chorus - hm, this is really like something out of very commercial modern melodic power metal band. Nice but mediocre emotional break, another chorus and that's it. OK, but nothing special. 7/10
Black Wings - Kinda continues on previous song. Good vocal intro, good rhythmic pre-chorus, epic chorus that sounds like the world is coming down. Another sweet melody/solo although I would choose different progression for that faster guitar run. Beautiful ending. If I did this album, I would make that a fade out and end album with this song.
Inside a Lullaby - This one sounds like a bonus song. OK, it's a nice tunce if you like this genre. Something that could end up on Amaranthe, Delain or early-mid Sonata Arctica album. I'm getting some Celine Dion vibes here.
6.5/10 (but I'm observing this as very unmetal and bonus-like track)
Dead To Me - Another one that sounds like bonus song. Great early IF style acoustic, unfortunately accompanied by that weird talking. Verse is fine, but then chorus sounds like some obscure american folk-pop-rock singer. Real instruments kick in, and the song picks up some speed and energy, but 20 seconds later we're back to the talking part. Repeat, repeat and we're at cool, if unremarkable, melodic ending. This one feels really unfinished. 6/10
So, it's a good and catchy album. I've been listening to it since the leak/release pretty much all the time and it's still holding my attention. I enjoy it. There is nothing that really bother me except some shitty electronics here and there and that DTM talking. Everything else is mediocre but pleasant, above the average or excellent.
I would rate this with 7.5/10.
Not really sure about the genre, but I do like it, when I overcome expectations about the growls and MDM. Unlike new IF efforts, this thing actually works both as metal or as music in general. Jakes vocals are better than I expected. Not one of the kind vocals, but he's very capable and pretty much 8-9/10 metal bands would be happy to have him.
For the future I would like:
- experienced producer
- less songs, but longer songs that would allow for melodic ideas and riff to develop better and break intro-verse-chorus-verse-chorus-solo-chorus cycle that we have on this album
- less electronics fucking up good songs
- more quality riffs
- more attention given to solos
- more attention given to generic vocals lines in some songs
- better record label that could really promote this stuff
