2005

Veteran Machiavel are back again with their last album to date; but a new one should soon see the light later in 2008. It has been delayed due to a serious heart disease from their front man Mario. But he is recovering well enough to already tour (mostly acoustic sets) in Belgium. Good luck Mario (hopefully he gets wiser.).

This album is less catchy that their previous "Welcome to Paradise". Fully pop oriented it does hold some very strong number like "Watching The Time". A great melody for this commercial song. But there has been a long time that "Machiavel" did chose this musical direction (and with some talent I must say).

Almost as good "The Might Is Right" is another straight forward song. One won't find any extended number as "So Long" or "Killing Life" from "Welcome To Paradise". And I am missing these prog elements which could be found on their previous work. And to close the chapter of good tracks, "Hearing The Rain" surely belongs to these ones. Again, the chorus is very powerful (but that's a T for the band).

Most tracks are very similar in structure and mood which makes the listening of the album in its entirety a bit monotonous (the mellow "River Of Shame" being one of the weakest number). The band hasn't forgotten some of their heavy sounds either ("Washing Their Hands") but this one is forgettable. In the same vein, "Ronny Runs" combines heavy sounds (mostly during the chorus) with pop-orientation. Average.

The remaining part of the album oscillates between what I have already described : melancholic mood ("Black Snow", "Your Shoulder"), metal oriented music ("She's A Snake", Wondering"). The band is also trying (again) to re-produce a "Rope Dancer" oriented song with "Roaming With Ghosts". Pleasant but not really on par but Thierry produces a very good guitar solo which substantially increse the quality level of this number.

This is an average album (five out of ten), but I can hardly upgrade it to the three star level.