So it's that simple. Victor Arduini, founding member of Fates Warning, didn't want the old thing yet, grabbed Argus voice Brian Balich and knocked out a doom-heavy, traditional metal record that has what it takes to get fans of Seventies Sabbath, Eighties Candlemass and Nuller-While-Heaven-Wept under one roof. More classical than 'Into Exile' Doom can't be more! Compositions like the unruly opener 'The Fallen' and especially the two overlong 'The Wraith' and 'Beyond The Barricades' need a lot of time to unfold - but then they explode. The guitar sound of Arduini has crunch, many of his melodic leads breathe old-school fates warning flair, and Brian Balich, who is not known to be a typical heroic tenor, effortlessly manages to adequately implement the never obtrusive melodylines. Despite the exuberant length of the tracks, the songwriting is gripping enough to keep even attention-weak fans on their toes. So the year starts not only in the Black- and Death-Metal-area quite terrific, also the doomheads can breathe a sigh of relief!