A BLESSING IN DISGUISE

3.5 stars. Like the previous two studio albums children occupy a prominant place in the equation. From the picture on the front and back cover of a young boy, to the words written in some of the songs. If I had to describe their sound on this record I would say it's a combination of catchy, heavy riffs with the odd emotional, dark passages mixed in.

"Crushed To Dust" is hard and heavy right from the crack of the bat. An uptempo, straight forward song with lots of riffs. Not a good start as it's my least favourite track on here. It was actually hard to believe this was the same band who made the previous two records. "Lullaby In Winter" is one of my two favourites on this record. A slower paced song then the opener with guitar that reminds me of IRON MAIDEN, I think it's the tone of the guitar more than anything. The vocal melodies are a nice touch. The song completely stops and you would swear the next track comes on, a totally different melody. But it's part two of the same song and it begins with TOOL-like drumming and organ followed by some good guitar and vocals. The lyrics are great. "Writings On The Wall" is KATATONIA sounding with deeper vocals and heavy bass and drums. The guitar solo 3 minutes in is quite uplifting. "Into Deep" has an ominous intro that is blown away by a guitar assault. The organ is really good too.This is a powerful song with strings as well.

"The Boy In The Attic" has some chilling lyrics and lots of nice piano melodies.The contrast is good between the dark and heavy and the light and pastoral passages. "Two Seconds In Life" is ANATHEMA sounding. Opening with piano and vocals followed by strings and a full sound, this contrast continues. "Myron & Cole" is a hard hitting song with heavy riffs and organ. "As Life Flows By" features more excellent organ, bass and riffs. Good contrasting again in this one between the mid paced lighter sections and the uptempo heavy ones. "Rain" is probably the best song on the record. Taking lyrics from poems written for the "Light Of Day, Day Of Darkness" record this is obviously a very emotional song . It opens with the words "It rained the day that she went away, she never returned..." Gulp. Of course Tchort lost his daughter and these words are heart breaking. The song opens with cello and I love the melody 5 minutes in.

I have become a big fan of this band and highly recommend their first two albums. This album is a little too commercial sounding at times but there's lots of excellent music as well.