FIRST UTTERANCE

Really one of the best predominantly acoustic alba I've ever heard. The outstanding Drip Drip on its own receives five stars from me, as well as The Bite and its successor Bitten; the rest deserves a fair hearing, but won't ever reach the level of the above mentioned!

Drip Drip, their genuine epic, starts with a nice driping guitar intro and moody vocals for one minute, then the song starts with the beautiful lines:

"Your soft white flesh turns past me, slaked with blood Your evil eyes, more damning than a demon's curse Your lovely body, soon cacked with mud As I carry you to your grave, MY ARMS YOUR HEARSE (<-- often quoted: e.g. Opeth)

You stand before me, defenceless Your stare, unchanging Silent, cold, intens Sears my brain..."

I love lyrics of this level brought to us by screaming vocals, accompanied by nice backing "choirs".

The Bite is no epic, but an "ordinary" song telling the tale of a convicted christian, who is being hanged. Very nice are, apart from, again, the lyrics, the high backing vocals, singing exactly the same as the leading vocals. The main theme, instrumentally, of the song gets you swing allong on the sounds and dance on the most dark lyrics you've ever danced upon. Personally, I think The Bite is about the donwfall of Christianity in general, killed by the society - As Friedrich stated: "Gott ist tot..."

Bitten is the followup of The Bite, and presents us with the world what it will look like after the loss of religion (The Bite).

4 Stars