The Night Before

My previous contact with Kemet and their music is limited to hearing a track on a sampler a couple of years ago when they released their previous album Dying With Elegance, and as far as I remember their contribution left me indifferent that time around. This is Kemet's second album if I am not mistaken and I didn't really know what to expect except for the label emotional gothic metal, so I read a couple of reviews for this album before I was sent the promo. The Night Before is indeed filled with mellow, emotional gothic metal, but don't expect much originality in their music. Before the opener came to an end I realized I had heard this music before. Those guys are clearly influenced by all the Finnish bands such as Charon, Entwine, Him, For My Pain and To Die For. Besides, the album has been mastered at no other place than at Finnvox studios, which is a label of quality. The production on this album is indeed excellent, warm and heavy, the music is well balanced but fails to reach the intensity of some of the best acts of the genre. Kemet lacks the finesse and subtlety of bands like Charon or Entwine who can capture your attention with a delicate, fragile atmosphere of melancholic beauty. The Night Before lacks the genuine excitement this genre has to offer. It just offers a mix of repetitive dark gothic metal with a strange feeling of déjà-vu. I wish all the songs were as entertaining as Suicide Me which offers some female vocals. The singer sounds mainly annoying to me after a few spins, but after all it is just my opinion. All in all, this is an average album and doesn't offer anything outside the realm that has already been explored. The album has a hidden track Life Is An Easy Girl. And this closes my review.