This album has everything you want from a trad-Goth album. There are guitars that chug ("Time"), guitars that chime ("Last Mile") and spooky monk keyboards ("Shine"). Singer Michael has a sonorous tone, which isn't a million miles away from Dave Gahan. Dark Horizon are more guitar-based than Depeche Mode, but both bands share a style of polished production. Thankfully despite the reverb that cloaks everything, the music is allowed to sparkle. Much like Last Rites’ debut Guided By Light, the emphasis is on mood rather than tunes you can hum, but there are bits of music that stay in your head once the album has finished.

Highlights include "Higher Ground" which features ex-Fields of the Nephilim's bassist Tony Pettitt. I wouldn't have recognised his playing if I hadn't already known about it, but maybe his presence gives the song its urgency. It builds and builds and, though it doesn't take the listener to a destination, sometimes the journey is enough. If your excursion involves a hill then you want to start your ascent while listening to this song. There's even a haunting wailing female to keep you company. They don't sell those in Millets.

Sometimes when music is this brooding it can slip into torpor, a crime of which Norwegian gothic rockers Elusive can be found guilty. Putting that concern to rest is "Lost" which has a slow tempo, yet possesses the energy of a coiled spring. Dark Horizon aren't a band you listen to for their lyrical content particularly, "Raging voices/I try to hide/From this destruction/Need to confide" but the words do the job.

Dark Horizon slow the tempo again for "Shock" - and prove themselves capable of delivering a potent emotional hit without the sturm und drang. If the band are able to deliver more songs like this they deserve a long career. Nephilim-esque gentle guitars mix with Cure-like keyboards, before exploding into the chorus, which has the simple line: "Shock/Hands held out in fear." The band have an excellent grasp of the power of dynamics. I’d like to hear them experiment more in this direction.

"Time" feels a little anti-climatic following "Shock". It's a decent enough song though, sounding like early Tears For Fears, which I consider a good thing. The pace picks up again for "Real" - the fastest song on this album. There's a NFD/Fields of the Nephilim energy on offer, with a side serving of Cure-like guitar. I think Dark Horizon have a tendency to write mid-paced songs, which is a mistake because when they really shine is when they vary the formula. The way the chugging guitars are entwined with the keyboard stabs at the three-minute mark is particularly beguiling.

"I Need" starts with a surge of synths, with piano tinkling over the top. A spooky synthetic wind blows. This is their catchiest tune yet, even the instrumental break is catchy. There's a hint of Gary Numan when Michael sings "I look into your eyes/And I don't see what I want/You will never understand/Just why I have to leave." It warrants its five-minute plus running time. Inattentive listeners might not notice the song move unobtrusively to "Dark Shine" which brings the album to a close.

This is an excellent debut for anyone who likes dark brooding gothic rock.