Poisonblack
Escapexstasy
6.9
Sentenced's Ville Laihiala can apparently not only sing, but he can play the guitar as well! Poisonblack is a gothic/doom metal band hailing from Finland, starring Sentenced singer Ville Laihiala on the guitars and some of his Finnish buddies handling the other duties. It is not uncommon to hear people say that their side projects aren't "side projects", but in fact real bands with real futures. Maybe we metal critics have our doubts because they so often sound exactly like their "parent bands" Poisonblack's singer, J.P. Leppäluoto, must be a Sentenced fan, because his style is almost exactly like Laihiala's. He was supposedly hand-picked by Laihiala, no wonder Laihiala likes him so much, he's his clone! There are so many Sentenced comparisons to be made here it's not even funny. Even all the subtleties of Sentenced are mirrored in Poisonblack, like the way they do their keyboarding and the way the vox sometimes get really low and distorted sounding for dramatic effect. It's all here, baby. The only difference I can put my finger on (besides the name of the band) is the topics they sing about. Instead of suicide and filth and death, it's about lust and desire and sex. Instead of being so bleak, it's a little more happy. A little, mind you. They still bring on a good doomy-gothic quality. While not as good as Sentenced, Poisonblack is still pretty listenable and catchy, it definitely has it's moments. Fans of "Crimson" and "The Cold White Light" will be satisfied with "Escapextasy". I did like it quite a bit, because I am a fan of Sentenced. If you are looking for Ville to expand his horizons and deviate from what he has done in Sentenced, then you're gonna be disappointed. Even then you'd still like the album, it is pretty accessible, emotional, and melodic. There's nothing masterfully fantastic here, but it's good for a second tier, side project type band. For me, all I needed to hear was the name Ville Laihiala to know that it was going to be good. And yes, I do recognize that name when I see it, I'm not just trying to sound like I know a lot about metal.
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PoisonblackA Dead Heavy Day
9/16/2008