There something curiously uplifting about "Invocation" despite its talk of 'walking through the valley of death'. Maybe it's the ebullience of the guitars? The title of "Move Over Kate" is more intriguing, which is solid dark-themed rock. "Deep Inside My Heart" is more energy. The band seem to be struggling to reach something, I know not what. The tide of guitars is enough to sweep you away. There's a Chameleons-like intensity to this song. "For My Vengeance" sees the use of superlative guitar whooshes. It makes me nostalgic for bands like Meridian and Big Electric Cat.

"Friendly Fire" sees the pace drop, with intoxicating results. It's good to know that the band can change gear, without putting a foot wrong. Some wailed female backing vocals add spice to the mixture. "I Wanna Know" has ringing guitars, recalling The Cult played at a slower speed. There's a cool bit where everything comes to a halt, before all the instruments are reintroduced. Having been deprived of the music, we appreciate it more when it returns. Of course, this sort of approach is likely to confuse people on the dance floor.

"Wild Flower" has frantic drumming, indeed there's a tense energy to be heard in every instrument. The imprecations to the titular character once again conjures the spectre of Ian Astbury. Over the five minute running time the song slowly comes to a halt in an enticing manner. Those echo-laden guitars come to the forefront for the beguiling, though worryingly-titled, "Down Below". This is one of the band's slower songs, with a woozy too-much-cough mixture feeling at times. The song sounds like it is going to fall apart, but thankfully it never does. A chiming guitar solo shows how it should be done.

"Faith For The Faithless" sees singer Jorg Kleudgen struggling against the adversity in his life, but refusing to be daunted. That's the spirit. Use this as inspiration when tackling something difficult and you'll soon have the job done in just over five minutes. I don't know whether this was recorded with everyone playing at the same time, but it has the sort of energy and mayhem that suggests it was. This is a real band playing real music together. "You're The Fire I'm The Ashes" is solid, but unremarkable. "Take My Hand" has an unusual and uncomfortable rhythm, but this strangeness makes it a more interesting listen. It was wise to place this song late in the album, because it is uneasy listening.

If you play gothic rock it is traditional to end your album with an epic, which in this case is called "To Whatever End". It clocks in around seven minutes. There's some superb bass work going on here, redolent of Type O Negative. The song doesn't quite warrant its extended running time, but it's a solid slice of gothic rock nevertheless.