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My expectations for this album were way too high. Being the Kozak fanatic that I am, I hadn't heard new material since the last Mystic Forest album, 'Romances'. So, as you can probably tell, I was eager for more. The final product is disappointing. The piano is completely gone (but that's not a surprise, seing as the previous album, 665.999, also had no piano), and the magic we heard in the first two albums is just lacking. I find myself listening to only two songs on repeat, and the rest is either boring, or somewhat a rip-off of other tracks.

'I Hear Voices But They Aren't Saying A Thing' is one of those two tracks. The riffs are first class. The structure is pretty weak, however. The song is simply divided into two parts: two minutes for the first riff, and three minutes for the second one. The thing is, the second riff has that romantic neo-classical feel to it. And that's basically what made albums like Mystic Forest's 'Romances' so good. The main problem of the album starts at the second track, 'Anthology'. It sounds hauntingly like every other track in that vein. And by that, I mean every other track on the album. The riffs become redundant, which just make you want to skip to the stand-out tracks. '666 Pills' is the other highlight I was referring to earlier, but that's probably just me, and most fans will probably find the whole album redundant. There's no improvement on the drum machine. Actually, in some places, you're wondering whether there are drums or not. The drum machine on previous albums had this raw and unpolished feel to it, but the drums here almost sound like MIDI. The vocals are also somewhat buried deep in the mix, unlike the first albums where you could clearly hear Stefan's voice.

I'm disappointed. I think I stressed that enough. But, this is nowhere near bad, it's just superfluous. It's like taking this excellent riff, then modifying it a little bit then making an album with it. I find myself to be satisfied only the first and the sixth track on repeat. I'd recommend it only to the Eikenskaden fanatics, or those that want an easy introduction to 'romantic' black metal. Looks like I'll have to wait until the next Mystic Forest arrives...