Band:	Gothminister
Album:	Anima Inferna
Style:	Gothic industrial metal
Release date:	March 25, 2011
Guest review by:	Slayer666

01. Stonehenge
02. Liar
03. Juggernaut
04. 616
05. Solitude
06. The Beauty Of Fanatism
07. A.I. (Anima Inferna)
08. Fade
09. The Beast
10. Hell Opens The Gate
11. Liar [Goatmanifest remix]

Who doesn't love dressing up as a vampire using make-up stolen from his mom and pretend he lives in a city of eternal darkness? What, that's just me? Well, the joke's on you all, because Bjorn Alexander Brem, better known as Gothminister, enjoys it as well, and his role-playing has managed to produce a satisfying musical experience in the form of a gothic/symphonic/industrial metal album for the fourth time.

Those familiar with Gothminister know what to expect: beat-driven, gloomy music that makes you wonder if you should be headbanging or dancing. Harsh industrial riffs pound on while the background symphonics gently invoke the sense of dread, doom, gloom and similar goth shenanigans. Bjorn then proceeds to put the final touches via his very pleasing voice, which is always somewhere on the line between epic and tragic.

In a sense, the riffs, the vocal lines, the groovy beats, occasional female choirs, all of them are a prelude to a climatic chorus present in every track that brings out that "epic" factor, which, in layman's terms, may be described as "Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack meets goth clubbing music". You might also say how the music is a sonic equivalent of some movie scene where a huge black shroud covers a city with all the dwellers of the night suddenly emerge from the underground and take everything over from us Sun-walkers.

Not that is works 100% of the time, though. "616" and "Solitude" I found pretty weak, lacking that "oomph" factor that other tracks posses, probably due to the fact that the former is too guitar driven and the later suffering from the lack of heaviness. "Liar", "Stonehenge", "Juggernaut" and the tittle track, on the other hand, are must-listens, 4 truly finely crafted catchy and gloomy treats.

If you like some cheese in your goth metal, do check this one out. Just be prepared for the inevitable: as all fairly shallow music, it looses its effect after many listens and should be enjoyed in smaller doses, while preferably clipping out the weaker tracks.