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To/Die/For > All Eternity > Reviews
To/Die/For - All Eternity

What HIM should sound like - 80%

karma_sleeper, August 14th, 2008

Finland’s To/Die/For play a style of synth – laden goth metal with clean vocals that is easy on the ears and easy to get into. Catchy music does not equal good music. Fortunately for us, To/Die/For is both catchy and good.

Keyboards set the tone for every song on All Eternity. Often cheesy melodies attempt to invoke images of unrequited love and sublime misery. If it weren’t for Peratalo’s vocals, they would not succeed. Peratalo’s voice resonates extremely well on this album with emotional intensity. And it helps a great deal that we can clearly understand him. His ability to carry a note helps take the edge off all those cheesy keyboard moments and end up reinforcing the intended atmosphere.

The music itself is your standard gothic fare. Steady unimposing beats, the usual sonorous riffs, and bass lines you can feel if you listen close. It’s just good, solid gothic metal. Some songs are more faced pace almost poppy sound with their own head banging moments. Others are more languished with doom influences sounding more akin to modern Paradise Lost works or Type O Negative. In short, All Eternity presents a good stylistic mix without losing sight of the big picture.

A couple versions of this album have bonus tracks. ‘In the Heat of the Night’ by Sandra and ‘It’s a Sin’ by The Pet Shop Boys. Despite both songs having nothing to do with metal, To/Die/For’s rendition of each fits the album well.

So if you love synth – laden goth metal you will love All Eternity. It’s a good debut from an enjoyable band. Definitely worth at least checking out.

Excellent gothic metal - 65%

the_bard_of_osyrhia, December 24th, 2007

First of all, on this album To Die For sound quite a lot like a mixture between a heavier Him and a slightly weaker (modern) Sentenced. This is by no means a bad thing, in fact it is one of the reasons that I enjoy this album so much, but I just thought that I should mention it immediately.

The opening song ‘Farewell’ (a typical goth title if ever I have heard one) begins with some cheesy synth leading into a very heavy riff and is one of the highlights of the album. If you are turned off by very cheesy gothic metal synth ounds then you should definitely not get this album as it is absolutely full of them. The vocals of Jape Peratalo are truly excellent, his voice sounding emotional and very gothic but also quite reminiscent of Ozzy Osbourne of all people.

As soon as the second track, ‘Live In You’, begins the listener is introduced to more heavy guitar and incredibly cheesy keyboards. The keyboards on this album really are the deciding point for fans of gothic metal, if you like cheesy synths (I love them) then you will probably love this album but if you prefer your metal keyboard-free or simply like your keyboards to sound real then this album is almost certainly not for you.

‘In the Heat of the Night’ is a cover, and this is obvious from the offset, with 80s sounding synths and almost poppy guitars (though they are still quite heavy). This song might be a turn off for people who only enjoy metal but I love it. The female vocals on this song go very well with Jape’s vocals and make it feel almost like a gothic metal pop duet. If that makes any sense at all.

The album continues in this heavy gothic metal vein with a few exceptions. The song ‘Our Candle melts Away’ for instance is very much like a doomier Him and ‘Mary-Ann (R.I.P.)’ is almost like an atmospheric modern Paradise Lost song.

I recommend this album to fans of unashamedly cheesy gothic metal, fans of modern Paradise Lost and Him fans I guess.

The main highlights of the album are the first track ‘Farewell’, ‘Mary-Ann (R.I.P.) and the foot stomping gothic anthems ‘Dripping Down Red’ and ‘Sea of Sin’