Band:	Lunar Path
Album:	Memento Mori
Style:	Gothic metal
Release date:	February 01, 2012
A review by:	Milena

01. The Beginning And The End
02. Promise Me
03. We'll Be There
04. The One Behind The Mirror
05. Thin White Lines
06. In The End
07. Deadweight
08. Farewell To Arms
09. The Only Way Out Is Through
10. Walls Are Whispering
11. Close The Door
12. Nothing To Regret
13. Drag Me Down To Hell
14. Who Are You Talking To?
15. River Runs Deep

Rating in words: Cutting a huge meal into many small slices will still leave you uncomfortably full when it is consumed. But if it is your favorite dish, it's worth it.
(I know it doesn't make sense now, but keep on reading!)

Last year's releases from Autumn and Cardamon were a refreshment for the female vocal enthusiasts last year, because they didn't represent anything overly symphonic, operatic vocals, dramatic themes or just about anything stereotypically tied with having a lead woman on vocals, and yet were suitably dark(ish) and fairly melodic and lightweight. Lunar Path represents that niche in 2012 with Memento Mori, and even though flawed, this concept album might be worth a listen if you're into things like these.

It was scheduled for recording in early 2011 but the recordings were delayed by an unfortunate event: the first floor of the band's rehearsal flat complex was "arsoned by a deranged girl while the band was playing on the second floor". The band rescued themselves by jumping out of the window and their guitarist and keyboardist Jonas was injured seriously in the fall, losing 20% of the mobility in his right foot as result. But the band soldiered on, proving Finns are tough.

Their music is not of the tough kind, which will please some and upset others. It is of the simplest, metal bordering on rock (or vice versa) kind, spiced up with strong and assured vocals by Janica Lönn (who was a guest on Black Sun Aeon's Routa), as well as simple piano intros and symphonic sounds, all performed on keyboards. Arguably, "the most metal" moments come from darkening the mood with "orchestral" parts, which are still rare enough for this to be classified as purely symphonic. Songs are pretty short and catchy, and there is some good quality single-material.

However. For an overly melodic album consisting of short and catchy songs, it is too long. 15 songs clocking in at about 66 minutes, to be precise. You can find at least 15 minutes of material here which, by quality, is way behind the solid whole Memento Mori would represent if it were shorter. You can't exactly call it filler because there was no place to be filled here, light and approachable releases are supposed to be a little shorter in order to be just that - light and approachable. I guess the "extra" songs were needed to develop the concept further, but even the best storytellers get lost in their stories sometimes.

If you're not intimidated by your metal not being way too heavy, and you have some extra time on your hands (whether to deconstruct this release or try to enjoy it as a whole, both are fine), you'll find some nice songs here, especially the ones featuring guests - Attila Csihar (Mayhem), J-P Leppäluoto (ex-Charon, Northern Kings), Antti Leskinen and Tuomas Saukkonen (Before The Dawn and, well, a dozen more) have all given interesting performances.