SILENCE OF ANOTHER KIND

It's been 3 years already since this album was released. A quick guess tells me that I haven't played it much more then 10 times during that time. The reason is evident. There's something essential missing on this album, something called enthusiasm, excitement and songs.

It begins very strong though. Both Shame and Your Misery head off for a promising start, and Falling is a beautifully melancholic song like they can only make up so high up there in the north. With Still Standing the album makes a turn, strong verses again, but a chorus that seems a bit far-fetched, bit of a drained melody I think.

Petronella's voice has evolved quite a bit. She's more confident here and at times she comes close to the softer timbre of Anneke Van Giersbergen's voice. Of course, a good voice needs strong songs but with Is That All?, the string of quality pieces comes to an end. It's an uninspired song with weak playing and unsatisfactory melodies. With a catchier chorus, There Will Be No Miracles could have been a great pop song. But no, it takes till Not A Sound till the real Paatos comes shining through again. It's a brooding track with gorgeous melodies that will get under your skin in no time. The closing track is not much more then a little sound collage.

Despite many good tracks, it's a disappointing album from Paatos. I had expected much more after the two previous albums. With 27 minutes of good material, I can't come closer then a solid 3 stars.