EXTINCT INSTINCT

The second album with Damian, so I love it almost instantly solely because of that. It feels different from "Wounded Land", though. They were going in a different direction with this one, I think.

"Exposed" is not the most exciting opener, but it has a certain something. Damian sings with a not-so-high voice in this song, almost sounding mean and slightly evil at times. "Somatography" starts off softly with Damian singing softly too, but then breaks into a metally riff-fest with high-pitched vocals. One of my favorite songs on the album.

"Eat The Unicorn" is also one of my album favorites, starting off with vocals, well, I've never heard Damian sing like that before, but melikes. The instrumental bits, both guitar and keys sound solid and are a delight for the ears. The chorus is quite repetetive, sadly, but I'm enjoying it nonetheless. "Forever" is a song I hardly ever listen to, so I'm not fully up to date about that one.

"Virtual Isolation", again, is one of my favorites. This song rocks a lot more than the first too, sounding a tad more metally with them riffs. "The Whispering" has multiple vocals, and an odd drum rhythm. It took me a while to get accustomed to this one. "Lake of Despond" is perhaps the simplest track on the album, except for the complex lyrics (at least from a non-native English speaker's p.o.v.). It's a nice song, reminding me somewhat of "Days of Dearth" from the "Wounded Land" album.

"Clear" is a guitar/piano/vocal ballad. 'nuff said. It goes over in "Life Flow", another riff- based metal song, a lot less complex than the rest, except for the middle part. "Part of the Chaos" is an enjoyable song, reminding me of how the album started off. With its 10 minutes, along with "Eat The Unicorn", it's the longest song on the album. The song ends at 8 mins, though. The rest is silence, and then you hear an acoustic guitar and bar sounds, followed by an applause, which is odd since this isn't a live album. I'm not sure why they did this.

Conclusion? I really enjoyed this album. Even now I frequently listen to it, even more than "Clone" and "Critical Mass". Even though the songs don't blow me away as much as they did on "Wounded Land", it remains one of my top albums to date. I'll give it 4 stars. :)

Yours, Tailscent