In Winter - Murmur

It has all the brooding gothic goodness that we've come to expect from the band, and the album is a downhill ride into the depths of despairing emotion and tragic understanding. The album opens with “Dead All Along” (one of my new favorite songs from this band) with the crucial line of “How can you grieve for something that’s been dead all along” – a line that really sets the stage for the thematic gothic beauty of this band.

The album overall is a great listen, though I have to admit I feel like I cheated myself by getting their radio demo earlier in the year. "June", "Hide & Seek", "Butterflies", and "Bitter Season" are still by far their strongest songs, so I sort of feel like I had read the best chapter in my favorite book before reading the rest; the rest is still good, but I already knew what was going to happen.

But hey, that's my fault for being impatient and getting that demo when they offered it! Still a damn good album. In Winter has a great style, though my one criticism is that I'd like to hear just a little more variety without losing that unique sound they have developed. The last three songs on this album (“Creatures”, “Falling Apart”, and “In The Garden”) start to push out of the bounds of the rest of the songs, so I’d really like to see more of that. All the musicians are very talented, and I'd love to see the vocalist expand her melodic range as well as the rest of the band sample with a bit more different sounds.

Suggested Tracks:
“Bitter Season”
“June”
“Butterflies”
“Hide & Seek”