Nick Holmes and Greg Mackintosh from Paradise Lost have ventured off to more melodic territory with this album. I heard dark wave getting thrown around in reference to this album, and that is not what I hear on the opening track. It is a more melodic and more electronic based effort in contrast to their other band , but not goth, as least on the first song. They y of come closer to that sort of thing on the second song, but but it's not much darker than the first song. The best is more dance oriented. It brings Porcupine Tree to mind more than Mission UK. There is more of a Depeche Mode feel to " Divine Emotion" which brings it closest to whatever you want to call goth these days.
On paper this should win me over with ease. It is a formula that should be destined to work. Two guys from a metal band I like venture out to make something in the zip-code of goth. But it lacks the hooks and darkness to persuade me. The beat and vocal syncopation improve on "A Troubled Mind" . The vocals fall where they should. It is not the darkest song, but it is headed in a right direction. While it's a pleasant listen " My Only Escape" makes me wonder why they did not do these songs with Paradise Lot. There are plenty of Paradise Lost songs that stroke me as being more goth than what goes down on this album.
"Years of Suspicion" is a more confident step in the darker direction they were trying to wrestle toward. "Inquisition" sounds more like Gary Numan to me. The last song does not come together in the way you might expect. Instead it's brooding hesitates and ponders. I will still give this album a 9, as it is done and if I went into this with a better understanding , my expectations might have been more aligned. For what it is it works well, they are still solid song writers, this is not as dark as expected is the only problem I have, when I listen to it knowing what this is , it works just fine.
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