Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 03/22/2005
Sacramento's
With Passion partially staves off the numbing sameness that plagues many similar
death metal bands by tempering the sonic onrush of the chops-oriented hyperspeed attack (complete with the same cookie-cutter vocals of seemingly hundreds of other
metal bands) with unexpected passages of relative musical subtlety. The thoroughly proggy synth fanfare
"The Scorpions Dance," like the trickily showoffy acoustic guitar instrumental
"The Prophecies of Hellfire," is not in and of itself a particular masterpiece. It's just that in the midst of a half-dozen plodding, overlong variations on the same musical and lyrical themes, these songs stand out for their relative brevity, and for at least bringing a different type of pretentiousness to the
goth metal party. As for the rest of
In the Midst of Bloodied Soil, it might appeal to the undiscriminating
black metal fan who doesn't mind some florid lyrics along with his highly technical guitar shred, but overall, it's a fairly undistinguished addition to the genre.
~Stewart Mason, All Music Guide