Beseech

Sunless Days

Inside Out/SPV

The goth-rock scene becoming more pertinent these days, thanks to bands like Evanescence, and to a lesser extent, Lacuna Coil. These two examples are the crème de la crème of the scene, and Beseech is trying to reach that level. Unfortunately, they aren't there yet.

However, Lotta Hoglin possesses that quintessential voice that shows that Beseech is headed in the right direction. Her shining moment is the on the track Lost, as she is aided with nothing more than a piano, courtesy of keyboardist, Mikael Back. Beautiful and soulful are two of the most explicit adjectives that one could add to describe these four minutes of pleasantry.

But the rest of the band seem to be mailing it in. Erik Molarin probably has a good singing voice if he could just step away from the monotone zone he seems content within. Ultimately, it clashes. It just doesn't sound very good. And there aren't many hooks to really say that the music is all that interesting. Stale riffs and absolutely no accents really make it hard to distinguish between one song and the next, and this includes the cover of Danzigs' Devils' Plaything. Here's hoping that they find ways to be more adventurous next time around.

Note: The digipak version contains two bonus tracks not reviewed here.

Chris Burnham