Band:	Beseech
Album:	Sunless Days
Style:	Gothic metal
Release date:	September 05, 2005
A review by:	KwonVerge

01. Innerlane
02. The Outpost
03. A Bittersweet Tragedy
04. Everytime I Die
05. Devil's Plaything [Danzig cover]
06. Lost
07. Last Obsession
08. Emotional Decay
09. Restless Dreams
10. The Reversed Mind

First of all I'd like to state that I don't intend to compare the two periods of Beseech, -the "From A Bleeding Heart"-"Black Emotions" and the "Soul's Highway"-"Sunless Day" era. This is simply because the sound of those two periods is very different. In their first period they were moving in neo-romantic doom/gothic metal soundscapes, whereas in the second they walk in gothic metal pathways and thus it wouldn't be fair to compare them.

What started with "Soul's Highway" and became more mature and dynamic in "Drama," reaches its golden balance and perfection with "Sunless Days" - an album in which Beseech dedicate themselves totally to showing that the right moment to become more well-known has come. This time no-one left the band, however, another person entered the company of Beseech - the guitarist Manne Engström, adding his magical hand in the structure of the songs with ideas here and there and helping the entity of Beseech to grow stronger.

The production is crystal-clear and you can hear every single instrument in the album without wondering why the bass lines or the vocals etc are "missing". The guitar riffing is heavy and powerful, without forgetting to sound emotional and fragile with acoustic passages and in the corner lie some gothic rock references. The rhythm section is really wonderful, with the bass lines being creative, lending the ideal power to the compositions and the drumming the appropriate groove. The keyboard/piano passages are well-thought out and affected in their own emotional way, either evoking an intense atmosphere of serene melancholy or having a more distressing approach. And here come the vocals - I have to admit wholeheartedly that this time Lotta Höglin and Erik Molarin sound so unerring and stunning together, showing how a gothic duet should co-operate while pouring themselves into the compositions, that there's really nothing left to say, you just have to listen to them in "Sunless Days" and you will remain speechless, filled with vivid and intense emotions.

The album opens with the bombastic and emotional "Innerlane" and prepares the listener for what will follow - gothic metal balancing between emotional/fragile moments and dynamic/heavier ideas. The emotional/dynamic nature of "The Outpost", "A Bittersweet Tragedy" and "Everytime I Die" will surround the listener in a unique way, the brilliant and successful cover of Glen Danzig's "Devil's Plaything" will show how a band can turn a classical hymn into a song of their own style, while the romantic and painful aesthetic of the fabulous ballad "Lost" will drown you in a sea of memories and tears. The songs I mentioned above are, in my opinion, the highlights of the album that will haunt the listener for a long time. I shouldn't forget to mention the wonderful re-make of a Beseech hymn of their first era, "Manmade Dreams" (which can be found in the limited digi-pack edition, along with a more fragile version of "Lost") and the quite enjoyable Ramones-oriented refrain of "Last Obsession".

Gothic metal adorers should check at all costs "Sunless Days", the most mature and emotional release of Beseech in their second era in which they master what started with "Soul's Highway".