FALLING

After a short intro we are thrown into Digging a Hole and this one is another gem, which was especially welcoming after the deviating tone and songwriting approach that we've gotten on the previous EP Heatwave. This is a return to the bombastic A.C.T sound that reminds me of Imaginary Friends and Last Epic albums, but sounding new and different at the same time. The Girl Without a Past is another piece of pleasant nostalgia that works as a follow-up to Emelie (Ms. Amnesia), from Today's Report, and I love how the band manages to merge the old and new all in this one performance without making it feel like a rehash of their previous material.

Breathe is another Ola Andersson-penned winner that took me some time to appreciate. I love how the melodic hooks and vocal arrangements pay homage to the band's past and the orchestral arrangement pushes these six minutes to a complete masterpiece for me. We get back into heavy and groovy territory with A Race Against Time, which fits well in with the theme of this EP and that gets a strong conclusion on The Earth Will Be Gone, but more on that soon. One Last Goodbye continues with the apocalyptic themes and it seems like Ola Andersson and Jerry Sahlin manage to nicely complement each other's song writing to create a complete experience with tracks 5-8 on Falling. The long emotional guitar solo, towards the end, brings this composition to a strong close and I personally would have preferred not to repeat the chorus at the end and go straight into my personal favourite composition The Earth Will Be Gone.

Just when I thought that Ola Andersson was gonna get the award for the strongest contribution, here comes Jerry Sahlin and completely knocks me off my feet with this five minute mini epic. I get goose bumps whenever I hear The Earth Will Be Gone with its amazing build up and chorus. The second half of the composition is heartbreaking but also gives me a feeling of hope and believe in the strength of the human spirit, despite how Falling concludes.

Falling might not be as moody as Heatwave but the second part of this EP is definitely one of the most ambitious roller-coasters that I ever experienced on an A.C.T release. I have no idea how the band will manage to top this performance but I'm sure that they still have a few tricks up their sleeve and will manage to give us many more surprises in the years to come!

***** star songs: Digging a Hole (4:57) Breathe (5:41) The Earth Will Be Gone (5:06)

**** star songs: The Girl Without a Past (3:58) A Race Against Time (3:15) One Last Goodbye (5:22) Fall Out (1:07)

*** star songs: Fall In (0:38)