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To/Die/For: Wounds Wide Open
To/Die/For - Wounds Wide Open - [Spinefarm Records]

2006-12-31

Finland's To/Die/For have, for years, reminded me of the same country's H.I.M, same Goth rock sensibilities, and just as popi, if a bit heavier than the latter, that does not mean anything good in my book,

The band's first release – "All Eternity", was a worthy enough release, again, closer to 80's pop, including a cover of Sandra's "In The Heat Of The Night", but it had some merit, the later releases lost me, slowly but surely. And the move by the band's vocalist, Jape Peratalo in 2003, to actually dissolve the band, only to create a brand new line up with him as the only original member, was a bad move all-round.

2006's "Wounds Wide Open" continues that downward spiral, more sticky pop metal with tragic Goth rock touches, it cries "SALES!" with no remorse. From the opener "Wicked Circle" it all sounds the same, almost similar rhythms, the catchy chorus, the heavy handed use of keyboards, this is actually pop with distorted guitars, nothing more, and Peratalo's nasal croon can annoy you to hell.

The only worthy moments are the somewhat slower and more sophisticated bits, but they're drowned in a sea of similarly themed pop songs. There's even a cover version, this time of Ozzy's "(I Just) Want You", but it adds nothing to the original, which this isn’t that far away from, and the vocals just don’t work, too nasal, and the accent sounds out of place.

To surmise, this may by nice for H.I.M fans, or modern rock-pop Goth bands, but this has nothing there for me.

Alon Miasnikov



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