With this release Katatonia went away from their Doomy roots and released a more simple album(really simple) but retaining the sadness and bleakness they had in the past....the music is simple with the lead guitar ala Paradise Lost taking the main sound....and i have to say that it works perfectly....the guitar sound breads lethargic harmonies and sometimes leave a hypnotizing mark on the listener....
even though the sound in this simple is weak(the production could be better) i think it was strategically made to sound this way...the sound helps the atmosphere to get more bleak and more sad...the vocals are all death metal and are done by the singer from Opeth..this guy makes the best death metal vocals for sure...only one track break this rule with clean vocals done by Jonas Renske...a masterpiece to be listened in rainy autumn days...
1.Brave-this track is a good opening track cause bassicly shows all the album has to say...the guitar work is surely impressing..10/10
2.Murder-a shorter track with a straight forward riff that rocks...again the guitar work is impressing and the vocals are cool...10/10
3.Day-this is something that will surprize you...cause it is a really sad song sung with clean vocals..the lyrics are outstanding...it has a gothic feel...but works soo nice..9/10
4.Rainroom-this track sounds more like the first two...but breeds more despair with it's faster riffs 9/10
5.12-this is a more doomy track...but is gets better and better at the end....even though is my least favourite on this album...works nice..7/10
6.Endtime-this track has one of the most beautiful guitar work i have ever heard...a really cool track,again more doomy..the intro is sooo sad and beautiful.... 10/10

finally this album is an elegant way to express emotional decay......it's a cult album and a classic among the european fans ....of course who love sad music...
my advice is to buy it...but you could listen to it first.....

Frankly i have to say this is one of the best cd's i heard in my life....
but you know what was the surprise?the atmosphere....many bands try to make difficult arrangements,complex keyboard,and haunting female vocals to make a sad atmosphere and a dark feeling to their work...but Katatonia do the opposite on this album....so simple,but so goddam effective....it's one of the saddest albums i ever heard....they used to approach''less is more'' perfectly on this album....brillient....the vocals are working isolated somewhere between the claustrophobic guitar riff....seems like the singer has no hope when he sings....Jonas Renske is one very smart person indeed...
1.I Break-the album opener is certainly a stand out track....a very catchy chorus and a very catchy guitar riff....excellent 10/10
2.Stalemate-perhaps this track could be better or i have to listen more to it....still a great one..7/10
3.Deadhouse-perhaps the best song i ever heard..you can actually feel the guitars are crying on the chorus....a masterpiece 10/10
4.Relention-simple track,but another stand out...again the melodic guitar is outstanding and the chorus marks the listener...so simple,yet so emotional 10/10
5.Cold Ways-this track is pure depression....it gets better and better with every listen...and the chorus is very cool....the last two minutes are really breathtaking10/10
6.Gone-this track doesnt reaches 3 minutes...the title says it all...gone..that will this track leave in your head...why carring?all hope is lost 10/10
7.Last Resort..a more quiet track...a great chorus...you have to listen couple of times to reach it's message 9/10
8.Nerve..the chorus on this song leaves without comments,listen to it and you will know what i mean 10/10
9.Saw You Drown-the 'less is more' approach is excessuly used to make an outstanding track....a bleak 5 minutes journey 10/10
10.Instrumental-the title says it all....this little piece of guitar work leaves a monotone atmosphere while listening..very cool 10/10
11.Distrust-on the first riffs this track reflects the sadness that this ending track has making it a standout 10/10

well this album is for anybody who wanna feel darkness...it takes some time but once you connect with the tracks it will mark anybody...

this best off could be the best HIM presentation for their new fans....but also for the old ones cause it has a bonus DVD with 5 songs from Love Metal album live last year...
there are songs from their 4 albums released so far...so you can guess that it's really cool,cause almost all HIM's hits are great....i actually like more the old songs from the first two albums,but probably for the new fans the new ones will be better...
so finally the cd has all HIM singles since 1997 and two new song,Solitary Man(Neil Diamond Cover) and And Love Said No.
A must for every good HIM fan!

i've been listening to My Dying Bride for for some time now and i must say this album is a brilliant masterpiece...
it's full of very suicide,sad moments and the hole sound of the album is utterly cold....
even though this cd is sad,it has also really heavy moment and it really haunts the listener.....

1.The Dreadful Hours 9/10.....great track and also a good intro to the album..starts really slow and dark and after a while Aron's voice starts grunting and the whole track explodes...after that it returns to it's slow part..cool
2.The Raven and The Rose 10/10.damn heavy track....the hardest track on the album...the song is full of explosive blast and a very dark,haunting atmosphere...
3.La Figlie Della Tempesta 7/10....probably the average track on the album....has nice lyrics though and it's melodic..
4.Black Heart Romane 8/10...very cool track...it's romantic and Aaron's voice is really nice....
5.A Cruel Taste of Winter 10/10....well now comes the best part..excellent track..sad and beautiful
6.My Hope,The Destroyer 10/10.....outstanding track....probably the fastest track on the album...but it has really gorgeous intros and the keyboard is sadly armonious...a masterpiece..
7.The Deepest of All Hearts 10/10..another standout track...one of the best moments of the album...starts with the grunting voice of Aaron,but after that the infernal choirs and the crying guitars explode making this track a hymn of a funeral..
8.The Return to the Beautiful 8/10..the longest track on the album(over 14 min) and it's a reproduced version of a very old track of the early My Dying Bride...

well overall this cd becomes better every time you listen to it...damn heavy,slow,epic and sad...wich i dont recommend to depressed people

actually i don't think this is black metal but it has really outstanding tracks...as every Cradle of Filth album it has really dark/erotic lyrics and well-crafted instrumentation.....
the remastered tracks arent that cool as the original ones but they are in much better quality and for the rest of the tracks Dani delivers really scary mood to the music itself.....
i consider this an original Cradle of Filth album since it has better tracks than the remastered ones and not just a collectible...it's more like an essential album to the beginners who are into this style of music....
1.Sin Deep my Wicked Angel 8/10....nice instrumental...but Cof made better ones...
2.All Hope in Eclipse 10/10.....outstanding track...Midian meets Damnation and A Day
3.Born in A Burial Gown 8/10....the guitars work at their finest and deliver a pure horror suspense....but i got a little bored though
4.Summer Dying Fast 7/10.....the original track sounds better....but the remastered one has much better quality and give a more infernal mood....
5.No Time to Cry 8/10.....cool cover indeed...short,nasty,it hits you in the face...but Dani's voice is really weird....
6.The Principle of Evil Made Flesh 7/10....again the remastered version looses the original touch of the song...but sound fine anyway
7.Suicide and Other Comforts 9/10.....excellent ...an epic masterpiece....in first 2 min it's sad and then starts the rage...
8.Dinner at Deviant's Palace 9/10....very good intrumental...it will haunt you forever
9.The Black Goddess Rises II 6/10....well the original version of this tracks work much better than this one...i still dont understand this track
10.Scorched Earth Erotica 6/10....this is the mainstream track along with Born in a Burial....it's fast and catchy...but boring after a while...

well maybe this album deserves 4 stars...but i gave it 5...cause of the lyrics.....
a lot of fans would say that this is Manson's best album....i dont agree ....i think that Holywood and Mechanical Animals kick this album's a**.....The Golden Age just doesnt seems to touch me.....
1.Irresponsible Hate Anthem 8/10-a good start to the album....
2.The Beautiful People 9/10...one of Manson's best songs...but something is missing there..maybe some guitars:)
3.Dried up,Tied and Dead to The world7/10...kinda weird song....a gothic sound...but not less industrial..
4.Tourniquet 10/10.....My fav song on the album....very good song...
5.Little Horn 8/10.....noizy song..but i like it...dunno why all the poeple says dont like this song..
6.Cryptorchild 7/10....this song wanna be a ballad?:).....
7.Deformography....6/10...weird song..has a groovy sound...more technical....but it's not for me
8.Wormboy 8/10....another solid work.....i like the irony in this song..Manson doenst makes an effort to sing on this album...
9.Mister Superstar10/10....very good song....now Manson sings about his wishes...
10.Angel with The Scabbed Wings 10/10....another brilliant song...one of my favourites...i love the lyrics...the gothic rage...and the industrial sound..excellent
11.Kinderfeld 6/10....dont like this song very much....lyrics are good though
12.Antichrist Superstar 10/10.....very very good song...nothing else to say
13.1996 8/10....industrial song...Irresponsible Hate Anthem part 2
14.Minute of Decay 8/10...i like this song a lot...maybe the chorus makes it so cool.....
15.The Reflecting God 10/10.....very cool ...the chorus leaves me without a word against it....it's a classical Manson song..
16.Man That you Fear 9/10....and finally ..the ballad that ends the hate of the album.....dunno but every Manson ballads puts me very depressive...they are all so...dirty....and calm at the same time...anyway

This album could do much more than this...if those guitars wouldnt sound like a broken vacuum cleaner...

after not a very long time since the last album Deep Shados and Brilliant Highlights HIM is back with this brilliant album full of love,death and passion.....the tracks are like a combination off all of their pervious albums and defines once again their original style..LOVE METAL....
it has the rage of the first album,the darkness of the second and the softness of the third...
definetely worths your money and your attention....
A MUST BUY!!!!!!!!!!

i expected a lot from this album...cause i like a lot Black Market Music and Without you I'm Nothing..
anyway..the album starts very well....with the instrumental and is leaving the conclusion that the album will be a classic Placebo by the first listening..but it's not quite like that..
more than half of album is indeed good..and has some strong and some emotional songs...but there are few shadows...some of the songs on the album are lacking deeply...
1.Bulletproof Cupid-good instrumental...8/10
2.English Summer Rain....typical Placebo opening track....Pure Morning meets Taste in Men 8/10
3.This Picture....very good song..a work of art indeed..emotional 10/10
4.Sleeping with Ghosts...another good song...a deep Placebo song..very catchy 9/10
5.The Bitter End....another masterpiece....first single as..10/10
6.Something...well...i told something about lack in the album...well this song is very weird,difficult..and really annoying...lacks....4/10

7.Plasticine...i think this is the most heavy track on the album..good..but not too good...8/10
8.Special Needs...it's another slowmotional song..it's good but doesnt impress much...8/10
9.I'll Be Yours...this is the second shadow of the album...and fortunately the last one..6/10
10.Second Sight...another good track..10/10
11.this is a very good acoustic track...really cool....10/10
12.Centrefolds...my fav track...more like Peeping Tom or Blue American..a good end to the album.10/10

the album is good....if you wanna listen some emotional weird rock songs...buy this album...just skip those shadows

the production is really good...i've listened to a lot of live cd's...and many of them sounded very bad..
all the tracks are very well interpretated....thats why Dani and CO. are recognized for their live performances....
but if you dont know the tracks...dont buy this cd....
the second cd is good too....the remixes are really good...i like the Second cd better than the live one....the unplugged version of Funeral in Carpathia...
its a good cd...but i think its better for fans only

the new album from Cradle of Filth is not as epic as Dusk and Her Embrace or Cruelty and The Beast....but musically is much better...with time the band really developed some strong sound and angst....the album,sounds more heavy than Cruelty and The Beast..it comes more to The Principle of Evil Made Flesh,but a lot better...
and that is really good...its not really Black Metal...but i think that's good too....the album its has some weird,but melodic guitars...and the tracks are catchy...
In my opinion,almost all the tracks are cool....without 2-3 of them....the goals:Hurt and Virtue,Serpent Tongue,Better to Reign in Hell,Presents from the Poison-Hearted...Thanx God for the suffering and The Smoke of Her Burning...
intresting album indeed