Fronting the band is the vocalist Judith Rijnveld—and what a vocalist she is! She has a deeper voice than most female fronted bands have, though she’s not quite Flowing Tears deep. There’s something special about her voice that I can’t quite put my finger on—she’s got something going which makes her sound unique to other vocalists I’ve heard. The only person I suppose you could compare her to is Sharon den Adel, but the only time that’s apparent is when Judith goes into her higher register. Along with Judith, Ivar’s performance is great on this album as well. He isn’t mind blowing per se, but his performance is very well done. Other members also play very well, but don’t stand out quite as much as Judith’s and Ivar’s performances.

So how are the songs? Well, the songs for the most part are pretty straight forward. There is no crazy 14/4 insane song structures—it’s mostly a verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus structure. Though, the songs, for the most part, don’t get boring at all. "The Craving", "Seven Feet", "Brody", and "Sempre Fidele" are all very well done and groovy songs you’ll be craving (ha, see what I did there?) for a long time. Also, I wanted to make a special note about the song "Balance of Power". I was really blown away when I heard it—I would go as far as saying it’s one of the best songs that was produced in 2007. Unfortunately, the ballads on this album don’t quite live up to be what they could be. The ballads are very pale compared to the mid-tempo and fast songs.

Overall, this is a pretty solid album. They need to improve on their song writing a bit—especially the ballads. I would also love to hear them all just let loose on the next album! Everything here was pretty contained—a hint of craziness would be most beneficial. However, this is a debut; I feel the band did very well on their first outing.

8.5 / 10