Kev Rowland
‘The Helsinki Vampires’ have been at it for more than twenty years now, and no prizes at all for guessing that this is their tenth album. What we have here is goth metal, but much more in the vein of The Cult and even Billy Idol than Fields of the Nephilim or the mighty Type O Negative. This is pop mixed with melodic rock, dirty guitars and gothic vocals and the result is something that is well-suited to radio fodder and maybe that is the point? There is no real depth to the music, no real passion, almost as if playing their trade down this musical path for so long even they are bored of it. Now I know that these guys have sold a great many records, and I am sure that this will do well for them, but it’s not for me. Need less to say I get really annoyed myself when I find that the odd song such as “I Know What You Did Last Summer” has something indefinable going for it. Maybe they’re like Nickelback – no serious metalhead will admit to enjoying their songs but many of us have some stashed somewhere and just won’t admit it… This really is an album that you need to hear before purchasing.