DIES IRAE

I developed an interest in this group from listening to the streaming song featured on PA, but of course had quite a difficult time finding a copy of the disc. Eventually I just happened upon it at my local used record store and without a second thought purchased it.

Unfortunately, after a few spins I was not so enthusiastic. On the good side, the lyrics are well written. There are some good orchestral arrangements and some heavier sections which add good contrast and keep it interesting, although they aren't exactly the greatest riffs I've ever heard. On the bad side, this CD definitely places the vocals at the forefront, and they are atrocious (and that's coming from a death metal fan). Mr. Doctor has a voice reminiscent of Dani Filth from Cradle of Filth. The lyrics are well written as I said, but the vocals just wear on me so fast. Maybe if the music were more of a presence. For the most part this disc is ambient background music and Mr. Doctor squealing about something or other. Here and there there are the good arrangements which keep me from hating it, but I certainly wouldn't recommend this to any of my friends.

I consider myself pretty open-minded, but there's something here I just can't get past. Maybe it'll click at some point in the future, as there are bits I quite enjoy, but overall this disc just doesn't do it for me. Somewhere between 2 and 3 stars, leaning toward 2....