Band:	RandomWalk
Album:	Absolution
Style:	Gothic metal, Metalcore
Release date:	2010

01. Descent
02. The Light
03. Promises
04. The Maker's Way
05. Night In Gale
06. Hourglass
07. Evergreen
08. The Well
09. Stormcrows
10. Cellar Door
11. Silence

With RandomWalk we have a rather unknown band, formed in Athens (Greece), but actually they play quite an interesting and unique combination of styles. Absolution is the band's second full length album and a rather good way of escaping from the boring everyday life into dark, sinister and chaotic worlds.

RandomWalk plays a mixture of gothic metal with slight a touch of metalcore (though that influence is much more present on their debut). Typical for more modern sounding gothic metal, there is also a fair amount of keys featured on this album. Admittedly this combination seems a little off putting at first glance, but they deliver the style in a very artistic and dramatic (but not too stereotypical) way, making it a lot more attractive, although you can definitely still hear that there is a lot of room for improvement on many levels. A big plus for the album is that it has a very nice production, making it sound not too overproduced, but still crystal clear so that you can identify every instrument at all times.

A great share of responsibility for their unique sound comes from Jean Baptiste - the singer of the band. On Absolution he performs a lot of different types of vocals, be it regular harsh vocals, clean singing or spoken words with a weird undertone making it seem like it's coming from a totally psychopathic person. Though the variation in vocal styles is generally a good thing, especially the clean vocals show that there is still quite some potential for improvement. The worst part of the album is the song "Night In Gale" with its addition of female vocals. The performance on the chorus is just horrible, but that's the only song, where I really have a big issue.

Overall, Absolution is a solid output and will mostly impress people who are into the gothic genre and can tolerate some metalcore. If you hardly find enjoyment in those types of music, this album will most likely not change your view in any way.

Personal highlights are: "Stormcrows" and "Cellar Door".