Oh, I don't know...I run the risk of sounding like a grumpy old man who thinks he's seen it all before, I'm very aware of that, but, honestly - as much as these Dutch guys and Mexican lady get the sound completely right, the real power isn't there.

You clearly hear Lacuna Coil riffing, Within Temptation bombast, etc., and there are really lots of cool elements in the shape of beautiful phrasings by vocalist Marcela and effective riffing by guitarists Eric and Stephan.

So why is the rating luke warm? Thing is this: As beautiful as I find Marcela's voice in instances, and as fantastic as she probably is technically, it gets a tad too shrill for me (hey, tastes vary!) in instances - actually already in the otherwise fine tune Monster which opens the album. Also, as much as I think there are really nice pieces scattered all over the album, I can't name one of these songs that has yet accomplished to make me go 'wow, this is the shit!' I lack the songs that really convince and creep under my skin the way for example both beforementioned Lacuna Coil and Within Temptation have done in the past. So, great moments, but no real hits in my book of heavy metal.