SERENADES

When I first heard this album, I was convinced something was wrong. My initial reaction was that I was playing a 45rpm record at 33rpm, but ruled that out as I was listening to a CD!

It's the vocals, and I use the term loosely, which are the source of the problem, they are just awful. "Darren" doesn't sing as such, he just growls very slowly, on virtually every track. For me it's as bad as rap, there's no melody to the singing just a very annoying monotone. This is pure death metal, without any suggestion of prog.

Now I have got that out of system, there are some positives. Instrumentally, the band are melodic, with powerful driving guitar riffs, and delicate acoustic sections. The brief "J'ai fait une romesse" is sung delightfully by "Ruth".

The final track, "Dreaming: the romance" is a 20+ minute instrumental, along the lines of Tangerine Dreams more abstract pieces. It's not so much a composition, more just waves of ambient sound which doesn't really go anywhere, but is certainly more rewarding than the other tracks.

Lyrically the album is well written, and the packaging is attractive to the point of being an overt deception but, woe is me, those vocals!

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