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So here it is, the supposed "last" Candlemass album. I don’t know if I really believe that, but I kind of want to, because while this album is not bad, it’s not really very good either. Yes, we get the expected slow riffage, and yes, some of the riffs are pretty good. But there is not a single lick or song here to stack up against the classic material of the 80s, or even anything as good as "The Bleeding Baroness" or "Demon of the Deep". Some of the tunes, like "The Sound of Dying Demons" or the egregious "Dancing in the Temple of the Mad Queen Bee", are genuinely annoying. The choruses are weak and flat for the most part, and no amount of effort on Robert Lowe’s part can really hide that. The band sounds solid and the recording is pro - but what do we really expect at this point?

There are some decent parts on this album, but decent is all they are. Nothing can hide that this is a band who are not really feeling it anymore, and are just going through the motions. The fact that Leif Edling sensed this and is calling it quits is probably the best thing about this album, because it will spare us having to listen to Candlemass go from uninspired to bad.