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I don't think this is necessarily a bad album. To be honest, Entwine are actually very listenable on DiEversity, and although you could do way better, there's nothing garishly or especially awful on this album, although the vocalist does tend to grate on my nerves at times. It's simply listless and unexciting radio rock, without any huge innovative spark or creative nuance or even any variation in tempo to spice it up, and there are too many songs that don't do anything to make you sit up and take notice, being a calculated mess of power chords and harmonized vocals fit for your local radio station. This basically sounds like Threshold except without any of the shimmering technicality or songwriting power that band displays, and also with really shitty "emotional" lyrics, too. The whole package reeks of commerciality, and there is far too much focus on the vocals and not enough on the guitars.

I guess the best way to describe this music isn't that it's soulless, but rather that the band didn't seem to be trying here, simply shooting for mainstream success while still having the instrumental talents for much greater than this. I can definitely hear the restrained chops that the band seem to be trying to hide here, and there are a fair few moments where they really start to rock - the riffs in the middle of "Someone to Blame" and "Six Feet Down Below," the last minute or two of "Refill My Soul," the opening riff and scream on "Nothing's Forever," and the piano sections in various songs - but then the band seems to realize what they're doing and revert back to radio-rock drollery, complete with plastic choruses for the kiddies, and the whole thing goes to shit.

If Entwine could get their shit together and write some more inspiring songs, as I know they can do, then I'd love to hear it. But until then, this is mediocre and pretty disheartening when push comes to shove. Not recommended.