ONE HOUR BY THE CONCRETE LAKE

The explanation behind the odd title to this album is this...Karachay, a lake in Kyshtym, Russia, was contaminated with nuclear waste in 1957 because of a cooling tank in the Urals failed and gave way to waste being dumped into the lake. After the spill, evacuation of 270,000 inhabitants occured and it was said that if someone were to spend an hour on the shore of this lake it would cause death within the lapse of a couple of weeks.

The subject matter within this album, is as usual for this band, topical, revolving around humanity's relationship with the environment and the affects of our actions that affect others that we wouldn't think would be affected. Daniel Gildenlöw penned some very emotive and effective lyrics and with the addition that Gildenlöw believes so much that music can change the world, really assists the honest ferocity of the music.

This album is much darker than "Entropia" and isn't as obvious as either. It takes several listens. They succeed in "The Big Machine" by producing the effect especially with the vocals, that they're actually workers in a machine. "Black Hills" has one of the most impressive and enjoyable vocal performances I've heard. "Shore Serenity" contains some very haunting and interesting vocal passages. "Inside Out" the last song on the album is absolutely gut wrenching.

This is an album for compassionate lovers of music of all hues and textures, for humane spirits.