Angeldust

On thorns I Lay have left Holy Records to sign on Black Lotus Records and I am sure that lots of people don't know they have released another record. This was also a surprise to me to find out that they had put out another release, and I had to order this one abroad. This is already their fifth album, but I own and like only their three latest releases Crystal Tears, Future Narcotic and the new one Angeldust. The guys in this band are from Greece, but they study in Romania (???) and thus make all their recordings in Romania. One could think about a low production album, but the sound is really good and the production is remarkable. The band went through severe line-up changes over the years and this time again it's the case since they have unfortunately lost the female vocalist (there are only few whispering female vocals on this record). The eight mid-paced tracks are neither gothic or doom, I would be more inclined to call it dark metal than anything else. The best comparison I could mention to give you an idea of their sound would be Katatonia, very easy listening music with clean and very few raw male vocals. Besides they seem to be very influenced by the last three Katatonia albums (very obvious on the all instrumental track Independence). The track Deep Thoughts is definitely the best track on this album. It's a typical On Thorns I Lay track which sends the listener back to their previous two recordings. It's not a bad album, but the loss of their main female vocalist is damageable to their music. Besides if I want to listen to Katatonia, I put on Discouraged Ones or Tonight's Decision, not this one. Let's hope the band will soon hire a new female vocalist and above all get back their own identity.