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Something of a supergroup here from Finland's oddly named The Man-Eating Tree, a band composed of Poisonblack, Sentenced, Reflexion, Embraze, and Fall Of The Leafe members, playing a depressing, somehow autumn-ish style of Gothic Metal with melodic and progressive touches. As a debut release, Vine is well realized, with some excellent songs which encompass their sound brilliantly ("Of Birth For Passing", "Lathing A New Man"), some that manage to entertain but little else ("Out Of The Wind", "Tide Shift"), and others that deviate little from the initial idea.

What struck me about The Man-Eating Tree is how they can tie two genres like Gothic and Progressive Metal together without going overboard with the technical theatrics; there is a lot of modern Amorphis in the riffs, and plenty of mournful Sentenced-like dirges (naturally; Vesa Ranta is their drummer), but in the vocal lines I can hear Paramount-era Sieges Even, and in some of the choruses, Wolverine and Riverside. The first half of the album is very listenable, keeping things up tempo yet still somber, but by the time you've reached the end you've heard everything before.

Well recorded and written (just not too exciting), Vine is a surprisingly listenable slab of sorrow from the Finns, one that would go over particularly well during a cold October.