Belgrado : "Obraz"

These guys are now old pros at giving old goth a new spin. Right from the first song i can hear the production value has stepped up from their last album  released three years ago. This band from Barcelona sings in their native tongue which I am unsure translates over into this style of more melodic darker punk well. They skip into a more new wave direction, almost touching upon Madness like ska on the second song. I like this groove as it's different from every other wanna be post-punk band. It seems like they are trying harder on this album to fill the shoes bands like Bahaus and Siouxsie have left vacant.

The slinky bass lines and spider webs of guitar weave around these songs. Upbeat in the same manner as some of the Cure's older yet more dance friendly punk anthems, the x-factor that works for the Cure is not as firmly in place. It might be the vocals sometimes sound unsure of themselves. While this album is more upbeat and almost more dance punk, the song writing often fails to really snare me in. In the past I have talked about how the cultural current of many bands doesn't always lend itself to a particular genre of music. It seems like it worked better on their previous album, so was that a flux or are they just dialing it into the dance floor on this one?"Raz Dwa" has more to the guitar melody, but still feels like filler compared to the band's best work that lies behind them.

The songs begin to feel the same by the time we get to the 7th song on this album. The guitar sound has improved, it more taunt and jerks with a pulse similar to Gang of Four in place. A slight darker touch is added to " Na Ten Czas" making it one of the album's better songs. There a couple of songs that are actually more like interludes than actual songs. The album wraps up with a more melodic yet similarly upbeat number. The vocals are not any more inspired than any of the singers other performances on this album.I'll give this album a 7.5 and hold my breath for another Bellicose Minds or for Arctic Flowers to get their groove back.