DARKER

3.5 stars. I just can't pull the trigger on 4 stars, it's just not up to the level of their debut "Loneliness" from 2007 in my opinion. One lineup change here as this Swiss quartet now have a new drummer. As the title "Darker" suggests, this is musically darker than the debut, cinematic at times, but you know it's the same band with those emotional accented vocals, along with the guitar and keyboards. Andy at Planet Mellotron feels that there's a lot of mellotron samples on this one, whereas on the debut it was the real thing. I miss the original drummer.

This is a long one at over 67 minutes, and the critical track is the 19 minute "8945", at least it was for me because if I loved it like most do then this is a 4 star album. It's a political tune about the dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima including samples of American leaders explaining why they did it. I don't know, I just feel that the song loses it's way. Just my opinion. Favourites are "Cold" and "Darker" and I like that GENESIS vibe on the short "Lost Anger". The opener is short and not one I'm into.

So not nearly as consistent or as interesting in my opinion as their debut, but still I really like their sound, and it would be cool if they made a comeback sometime in the 20's while I'm still breathing.