Band:	Signs Of Darkness
Album:	The Fall Of Amen
Style:	Melodic black metal
Release date:	2008

01. Serpent's Lament
02. Obscured
03. Cry For Omega
04. Envy
05. The Ice
06. From Depths To Surface
07. Ravens Claw
08. The Fall Of Amen

Signs Of Darkness are from Belgium and they play a Melodic Black metal with the occasional grunt or Death metal riff thrown in. I think it is safe to assume that their country mates Enthroned have spent a lot of time in Signs' cd-player. Early Abigor too, no doubt. Melodic Black metal is the name of the game today; unfortunately Signs Of Darkness is not really competent enough to entertain.

Don't get me wrong, Signs Of Darkness is not a bad band. Every member has a certain level of skill, so this does sound quite tight. And the bands that influenced Signs Of Darkness are also forces to be reckoned with. But the actual result? Disappointing, at least. Mediocre, too. There is just not much interesting going on. And when you take the fact they're from 1994 into consideration, you start to wonder what the hell they've been doing the past fifteen years.

It is hard for me to pinpoint exactly why this band bothers me so much. After all, there are a lot of copy-cat bands and albums out there that are very enjoyable to listen to. But throughout "The Fall Of Amen" the feeling creeps upon me that they followed the "rules" too much. It feels almost like they saw a book named "How to write Melodic Black metal", bought it and just followed it step by step. It just lacks that extra bite, and sounds quite dull in the end. Although it is built by the rules from the good, older bands, it just doesn't have it. It tastes as good as re-heated fastfood, so to say. A swing and a miss.