ALTERNATIVE 4

Once upon a time these guys were angsty/angry twentysomethings. And their raw, powerful music reflected this.

1. "Shroud of False" (1:37) badly recorded piano. (4/5)

2. "Fragile Dreams" (5:32) very repetitive CURE-like music. (8.5/10)

3. "Empty" (3:00) FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM-like with a powerful, impassioned vocal performance from Vince. (9/10)

4. "Lost Control" (5:50) more raw power and emotion. Another great lyric and vocal performance. (9.25/10)

5. "Re-Cnnncet" (3:52) interesting and well-executed tightrope walk between aggression and delicacy. (Perhaps songs/music like this provided the inspiration for Toby Driver and Maudlin of The Well.) (8.75/10)

6. "Inner Silence" (3:09) return of the poorly recorded piano sound with cheap-sounding synth strings in the background. Back down the volume of the guitar power chords and you have a song and palette more akin to the songs the band was producing in the 2010s. This one doesn't do much for me. (8.5/10)

7. "Alternative 4" (6:18) cool soundscape to open this one: distant, echo drums; rolling bass, distant floating synth notes. Vince's vocal starts out rather starkly; his voice does not lend itself well to narration-like approaches to singing. Not enough development; a failure for creating a truly creepy/eerie atmosphere. (8.25/10)

8. "Regret" (7:58) opens with cool acoustic guitar play over background synth washes. Entry of organ, bass, and vocals sounds so much like PINK FLOYD. Even the use of echo on the vocal is straight out of the PF playbook. After 90 seconds, the song begins to spill over into CURE-ish territory. (This is so much like the 2009 debut album/sound of AIRBAG!) When the pace picks up and the electric guitar power chords and drums kick in it becomes more ... generic. Vocalizations in the sixth minute do nothing. Roger Waters again comes to mind when the strumming acoustic guitar re-enters. (I keep waiting for Vince to ask, "Is anybody out there?") Then things amp up back into Fields of the Nephilim territory. (12.75/15)

9. "Feel" (5:28) 1980s power chords over Hammond organ. When Hammond is solo I feel as if I'm listening to 1970s URIAH HEEP. The song's simplistic chord structure is saved only by Vince's stellar little chorus: it stabs straight to the heart! "The now I'm coming back" line makes me think of all the bands on XM/Sirius radio's OXYGEN channel. (8.75/10)

10. "Destiny" (2:14) beautiful closing song. (4.5/5)

This is, to be sure, an album of powerful music--powerful, emotional performances. While I love the more atmospheric and subdued sounds and approaches of a lot of their 21st Century songs, I have to admit that their 20th Century version was very, very good.

B/four stars; an excellent addition to any prog lover's music collection and a strong product from a maturing ANATHEMA.