Reviewed by Graeme Crawford

Putting this disk on without knowing anything about Portugal's Cast A Fire, I got an image of a frontman who was bare-chested and well-muscled. Sort of like Henry Rollins of Black Flag, or Chris Cornell in the early years of Soundgarden, trying to be manly and powerful at the expense of key and melody. This situation doesn't change until the verses of "Fallen Man", which shows that Bruno can actually sing quite well. The riffs have plenty of meat on them as well as a good amount of variety. The drums lack a bit of sonic depth on occasions, but otherwise the production is clear. The songwriting is clever and shows that the band have several dimensions. "Let This Song Be Heard" displays their power ballad side, while "Leave Tonight" and the aforementioned "Fallen Man" stand out as representing the hard rocking side. Their spiritual side is not always immediately obvious in the lyrics, with the exception of the otherwise poor "So Lost". The instrumental "Carcere" serves to further demonstrate their musical talent, and they certainly write music that draws you in, but I feel they need some improvements in the vocal department before they will increase their appeal.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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