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Band: This Void Inside
Album title: My Second Birth/My Only Death
Release date: 25 July 2018
Label: Agoge Records
Tracklist:
01. My Second Birth/My Only Death (Intro)
02. Betrayer MMXVIII
03. Relegate My Past
04. Memories' Dust
05. Trapped In A Daze
06. Here I Am
07. Another Fucking Love Song [Explicit]
08. Losing My Angel
09. Meteora (feat. Max Aguzzi, Diego Reali)
10. Ocean Of Tears
11. All I Want Is U
12. Break Those Chains
13. The Artist And The Muse [Bonus]
14. Downtrodden [Bonus]
While the extremely high temperature this summer is slowly killing us, and our brains can't afford anything too complicated to think about, and as well our ears need something easy to listen, then some catchy, fluid, rather romantic and just a bit dark music done by Italian combo This Void Inside seems to be the appropriate thing. This Void Inside was formed back in 2003 as an one man band by Dave Shadow, ex frontman of Italian gothic metallers My Sixth Shadow. In 2008 the full line-up was set and they released their debut album, Dust, that same year. Now, after a long time of silence the band is alive again and the new, their second album is finally here.
My Second Birth/My Only Death consists of 12 tracks and two bonuses with a total running time of almost one hour. The album is certainly not for those who like anything extreme in music, but it's an absolute must listen for those who like unpretentious but well done gothic/dark pop/rock in the vein of HIM, Apoptygma Berzerk from You And Me Against The World or Rocket Science, Placebo, Paradise Lost from Believe In Nothing, London After Midnight, To/Die/For or the catchiest things of The Cult, to name a few. Beside the obvious influences from those bands, This Void Inside' sound has a lot of pop rock, hard rock and also some electronic elements added that make this album quite a dynamic one and it's not a burden at all listening to it. The tracks are quite different between each other, on one side you have some catchy pop/rock tunes like for example "Relegate My Past", "Memories' Dust" or "Break Those Chains", then there are some darker ones like is the album titled intro and more groovy energetic tracks like "Betrayer MMXVIII" or "All I Want Is U".
Musically the album is well done, nothing exagerated, pretty simple rhythms, melodic captivating popy lines, some heavy riffs, many sing along choruses, addictive vocals that are like a mix between Stephan Groth, Ville Valo and Jon Bon Jovi, if you ask me. I was pretty enthused by well inserted electronic elements and atmospheric keys that certainly makes the whole thing even more captivating and on some segments quite haunting. Romantic souls will as well find a lot for their hearts with semi balladic tracks like is "Here I Am". My favorite tracks are those with a bit darker edge, like is the cinematic haunting intro named "My Second Birth/My Only Death", the gothic metal one "Meteora" which reminds me a bit to Paradise Lost from their Believe In Nothing album with some The Cult influences, especially the guitar solo in the end, or the nicely flowing melancholic "Ocean Of Tears". On the other side the tracks like the over sugary "Another Fucking Love Song" or "Losing My Angel" should easily be skipped if you are not a girl aged under 14.
Even though My Second Birth/My Only Death might be an easy listen, it still offers a lot, and if you know what to expect you will be surprised of what you'll get, believe me. I'm not a huge fan of the music like this, but here and there I like to give a listen to something alike and I don't remember that in the last couple of years I have heard an album within this genre with so many potential hits and with so dynamic music, ok, maybe the latest effort of Florian Grey could come close, but that one is still much darker and a bit heavier. In the end we have two bonuses, the theatrical "The Artist And The Muse" with intriguing addition of classical elements and the only one with half of the lyrics in Italian, and the fluid captivating electronic rock named "Downtrodden" with very obvious Apoptygma Berzerk vibe.
My Second Birth/My Only Death is an album full of radio friendly songs with a darker edge and kind of an inherited Nordic coldness that will in the first place satisfy those who like the Suomi metal/rock bands. It's also really well produced and like I said before it's dynamic enough to not become monotone or boring. The band certainly has a lot of talent and potential to reach very high. Ok, must say that I don't think that this stuff will be on my playlist very often, not because it's not good, I do recommend the album, but because I had enough of this sonic sweetness for quite some time now, so...
Review written by: T.V.
Rating: 7/10
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