You can see where these Danes are coming from (the 90s, specifically) but you can’t quite see where they are going.
This album is littered with obvious signposts to 90s giants: All I Ever Wanted opens in a riff that’s pure Nirvana, Holy Cycle just crosses into this century by opening with a riff that sounds like Schism by Tool, there’s some very obvious Alice In Chains worship, especially in Open Wound’s verse, and the clipped drum sound is straight out of that Los Angeles alt metal scene Deftones were part of.
The problem is that there’s nowhere near enough of the band’s own personality stamped on the sound, with the influences too front and centre and far too little rhythmic distinctiveness in either riffs or choruses – making the hooks in the latter far too forgettable, and generally limp.
There’s an attempt at sounding emotionally genuine, with an imploring tone to much of the vocal delivery, but it’s not articulated clearly enough to convey what the singer is feeling, and with the soundscaping not as grandiose as it should be, the entire thing falls flat.
