By: Deek

Posted: Dec 28, 2005

One metal style in the last few years that has been way over done is melodic death. Back in the days of Dark Tranquillity (who still kick major ass in the scene), pre-"Colony" In Flames, At The Gates and early Arch Enemy, and the underappreciated Godgory, what became known as the Gothenburg scene was actually flourishing with great albums. But over the years, more and more bands began to copy the style, and it became increasingly harder to find worthy albums. Even bands that basically began the style started to fade. At The Gates ended early, we haven't heard from Godgory in four years, Arch Enemy is not what they used to be, and In Flames just became, in my mind, trendy bastards. Callenish Circle, a melodic death band that has been around since 1992, releasing their first full length in 1995. They had a good sound back then. Even their last album, 2003's "My Passion // Your Pain" had a lot of good moments to it. This time in 2005 with "Pitch.Black.Effects", the band is just following everyone else in a style that lost respectability just a couple years ago.

Originality has been lost on this album. The whole album sounds like rehashed melodies and copied riffs. The keyboards throughout, especially on 'Ignorant', are out of place. I swear, they're trying to go the way In Flames did with the horrid 'Reroute to Remain' with the keybaords, trying to add a really nice effect but have it come out tired, boring and just plain bad. 'This Day You Regret' is practically bad metal core. 'Guess Again' has a horrible sing-along chant chorus to it that hurts my head. Despite the things I hate about it, 'Ignorant' has a good melodic section. And the closer...oh my god, how many times are people going to do an unoriginal soft melodic piece as a closer? 'Schwarzes Licht' also has a good sound to it, probably being the best song on here, but that doesn't say much. 'Self-Inflicted' has good use of the scream and growl vocal styles (the rival for being the best). Same with 'Sweet Cyanide' with a solo that at least sounds meaningful. 'As You Speak' is an OK song, also. The rest...bleh. Even the production is just...more bleh. So, the album isn't all bad, but, it's just boring rehash of a sound that has been raped, strangled and stabbed to death.

This is uninspired. Not saying it's horrible (though in a way it is), but it's bad because it all sounds the same as everything else. It's just unlistenable. If you want to check out good, or at least decent, Callenish Circle music, check out their first two albums, which are actually now in a nice double CD set. This album is for die hards only, and even then they will be disappointed.

Rating: 3,5/10

Print