Emotional… nostalgic maybe… that pretty much sums up the fourth album of this German group, which started as a project, but has evolved into a full band in the meantime. I actually did a review of their very first album that they re-released with a more updated sound and essence, and it is quite different, yet still the same. The band has some Black Metal sounds, that we can probably relate in a distant way to BURZUM, with less shrieky vocals, and a lot more in common with some of the more ambient stuff, yet being more metallic and at the same time more Pop orientated… Confused? Good, that is when you know you are in front of good music. Now, the more noticeable influence will be later day ANATHEMA in all aspects, including clean vocals. The more metallic evil heads will probably run away from this as it is, to say it kindly, commercial. Yet, they still have the fire of extreme Metal in their sound, and they probably have come to the time when using more clear vocals will make more sense… still a few despair screams here and there will be good. And that is what we have here most of the time. There are a lot, and I mean a lot of atmospheric, acoustic passages, beautiful notes of calm music, that have more in common with a soundtrack than a band. Yet, for me, the half century old spiked Metalhead, I like it. Yes, at times you can say that this or that sounds like U2… others like OPETH… some other passages will remind you of Suicidal Black Metal… and yet they create songs that are cohesive and flow, and most important, it lets the soul of the listener travel. I also said that this is commercial, and yes it is, but again, for the modern world it is too artistic to be something in the top 100. There are many layers in the music, and it has this contrast between sounding relaxing, yet always with an impending suspense. Having a cover of IN FLAMES from the 2002 album that carved their way to new sounds, shows also the musical style the band is creating. They claim that their music is angry, but it differs from a Metalhead’s angry definition. It is angry, sad and emotional. While this is usually the type of band or style I usually stay away from, there is something that makes this band different, and to me, very good, even if I take these types in small doses. Post Metal they call it. Grieve the loss of the world. www.facebook.com/heretoir, www.facebook.com/aoprecs