I was going to write a full review on all tracks but it got too messy, so I just chose some of them...
Witchcraft – It sounds like “Neo Pessimist“ backwards. Nothing special.
The Sect – I thought this song sounded very promising from the live, it has lots of great elements, but on record it sounded a bit too tame, not as powerful as at the live. So I’m a little bit disappointed with this song, as I almost were sure that this was going to be my favourite. Seth’s voice sounded so powerful with echo effects live and on record it almost sound weak…Too bad!
Pendulum - Finally an awesome song, I completely love the guitarpart, it reminds me a little of “Wizard” and “Perish”, two good old favourite M10M songs… Here Seth sounds great, I think this sort of song suits him better… best track so far! It really caught my attention!
Sanctum Regnum –This song is quite interesting, really… with this marching beat
Dead Scape – I would have loved the intro more alike the live version… someone mentioned that Seth sounded like a vocaloid and I guess this is the song that person was referring to…
Sometimes I find Seth’s voice is taking a backseat on this album or on Moi Dix Mois albums in general. He used to sing so beautifully, remember Amadeus, everyone? I would like to hear his voice on higher tones more, he is singing very low most of the time and it becomes a bit monotonous after a while.
But there are some great guitar tunes here and there on this album. I always thought that Mana seem to listen too much to bands like Windir, when he composes. Not even sure he knows this band, but I sometime get those vibes… anyway… it’s an okey album. Nothing out of the ordinary, but still far from dull. I guess this is one of those albums that need some time to grow. If I would rate this album out of 10, I’ll say 6… But I might raise to an 8 after a few more listenings. We’ll see…
By the way, the gorgeous picture which was sort of the promotion picture for the album, with the whole band posing… is it in the booklet, could anyone scan it?
I would love to have a closer look at their pretty faces!