"The Stations" kicks things off, with Lanegan taking lead vocals. He alternates song by song with Dulli for most of the album, but such is the synthesis of their styles you'll need to be an observent listner to notice the microphone swapping. There's a blues flavour to this alternative rock, with the opening lyrics: 'O, Mama/Ain't no time to fall to pieces...' Religious imagery forms the spine of this album, with talk of God and the fact that 'the rapture's comin''. One suspects that when the apocalypse arrives God may find Dulli and Lanegan wanting, when judged on His terms. On the other hand I imagine that even The Almighty will have found some enjoyment in the melancholy cello of this song. "God's Children" starts with electronic drones and Radiohead-style guitar. At one point I think it's going to turn into "Street Spirit (Fade Out)". It later offers a surge of Sugar-like guitar, which brings light into the darkened room. Dare one dream of some sort of transcendence from this miserable existence? There is enough dwelling on such themes as mortality, penance and salvation to satisfy the average Matt Johnson/The The fan. You get the idea that Dulli and Lanegan are the intense and slightly frightening people you avoid at parties, unless you like a little danger in your life.

"All Misery/Flowers" is moody and menacing, with the disturbing and enigmatic lyric: "Little girls might twitch at the way I itch/But the way I burn is a son of a bitch." Perhaps it is for the best that matters are not made more explicit. Lanegan notes: "I did all I did just to get through to Heaven". Can we agree that the end does not justify the means? This menacing rock music is haunted by ghostly wailings. Don't play this when you are alone in the dark. "The Body" is a blessed moment of light in the dark and swirling void in which The Gutter Twins normally operate. Martina Topley-Bird provides some delicate female vocals, which is perhaps why the machismo has been scaled back. This is almost a country song, recalling the deep voiced musings of Crash Test Dummies.

"Idle Hands" – see more religious imagery – is the single, and rightly so. There are torrents of menacing guitar, enveloping the listener in a tense atmosphere. More so than anywhere else on this album, this song hints at past glories, particularly The Afghan Whigs' Gentleman album. If grunge had been more like this I would never have been such a shoegazer. The cello teases during the introduction to "Circle The Fringes" with the question of whether this song will sound like The Levellers or New Model Army. The answer is, of course, neither though like New Model Army The Gutter Twins are just as effective when they turn their amps down. The guitar stabs, two minutes in, are all the more effective for the calm that came before. Dulli decides that love is OK, but 'It's not enough/Not enough to save you from yourself.' He then evokes Adam and Eve imagery when he sings: 'She can make me/Do things I ought not to do.' The uncharitable might be tempted to pelt the band with self-help books and pleas to 'take some responsibility for yourself.'

"Who Will Lead Us?" showcases the acoustic style of the band. It's supremely catchy and engaging. If you were to meet Lanegan and Dulli round a campfire this is the song they'd sing. I'm not sure how they'd reproduce the isolated squall of electric guitar, but it would be a performance worth watching. "Seven Stories Underground" follows the Tom Waits' school of percussion, i.e. it sounds like a hubcab being hit with a hammer in a barn. Lanegan notes that: "Oh, Heaven. It's quite a climb." Of course if they keep hanging around with a 'black mistress' who is 'gonna crack that whip' it's unlikely they'll be heading upstairs any time soon. "I Was In Love With You" is the nearest The Gutter Twins get to a ballad. I don't want to be at the club where this is the slow song at the end though. Especially as the pace picks up with some effective keyboards taking the lead. The way this song builds, complete with piano, cello and violin, recalls The Beatles "Hey Jude". If "Hey Jude" had been recorded in an underground sewer, at the chime of midnight on Hallowe'en. By mad monks.

"Bete Noire" is a mirror universe version of The Charlatans, with Hammond-esque keyboards. While the music may be sunnier than on some songs, the lyrics keep the mood black: 'A long dead animal is on your trail'. Hints of Electronica give "Each To Each" a fresh feeling. Bird song heralds the arrival of the final song, "Front Street". There's an element of American Music Club in the early stages of this song, which later builds to an electric climax. If there is a sense of redemption to be had, it is here. When Dulli sings: "When it comes apart/We're gonna have some fun, son" he manages to make it not sound like a threat. The song abruptly fades away after five minutes, leaving the listener unsatisfied. I was promised a journey, but I have been denied a destination.

With a litany of drug abuse and deaths in their wake, it's unsurprising The Gutter Twins make music on the darker side of things. They are experienced enough to know that to make the black blacker you've got to provide chinks of light too. While I wouldn't wish darkness on anybody, Lanegan and Dulli, wear it well.