Beseech - Souls Highway (2002)

It's always a pleasant surprise to hear a band you expected to dislike (due to being misinformed as to what the band sound like) turn out to be rather quite good, which is exactly the case with the latest album from Swedish gothic metallers Beseech. From the outset, it is hard to listen to 'Souls Highway' without making comparisons to Italy's own Lacuna Coil. Both bands have a beautiful, angelic sounding female vocalist, and a deep male vocalist and both of them play a very similar brand of gothic rock/metal. However, look a little deeper and you will notice that whilst Beseech will probably never escape the comparisons from those who happened to hear the more widely known Lacuna Coil first (Beseech aren't exactly newcomers to the scene, having formed in 1992), they most certainly have their own little subtleties; most prominently, Beseech make far more use of keyboards and samples than their Italian counterparts. And when I say subtlety, I mean subtlety. Never being allowed to totally dominate the music (with exception perhaps, to the synth strings used from time to time), the keyboards sit happily in the background, bridging the void that the rest of the instrumentation does not fill, in a way very much reminiscent of the keyboards on Dark Tranquillity's 'Haven' or any recent Soilwork.Another fascinating aspect of Beseech's album is the use of acoustic, clean and spanish guitars. Take for instance the mesmerising, yet very traditional clean guitar solo in "Blinded" or the acoustic guitar dominance in "Endless Waters", from the introduction and throughout. Perhaps pushing Beseech more towards rock territory rather than metal, but adding an extra dynamic edge all the same.Female vocalist Lotta Höglin has a very beautiful voice; however, whilst I hate to return to another Lacuna Coil comparison, she lacks a certain something that Cristina Scabbia has. Perhaps it's hard to compete with the silky tones of Scabbia's Italian-accent, but at times, her singing can come off as a little generic...however, her voice is still very pleasant, and adds a very interesting contrast to the extremely low, baritone vocals of Erik Molarin.'Souls Highway' is quite an instant album, and many of the tracks will be stuck in your head after the first few listens, but it also grows on you the more you listen to it. The tone throughout is mostly introspective, however it has its share of rockier numbers. The title track is certainly a highlight, as are the tracks "Between The Lines", opener "Illusionate" and the sad "Sunset 28". Tacked on to the end of the limited edition digipack (and my promo copy) is a cover of ABBA's "Gimme Gimme Gimme". A fun, and interesting goth-rock take on a well-known pop song, and in the band's own words, a "tribute" to their fellow country-men. It does little to add to an already great album and isn't really worth getting the digipack for alone, but is fun all the same.It goes without saying that this album will appeal to Lacuna Coil fans without a shadow of a doubt, however anybody who has even a passing interest in beautiful, melancholic, melodic gothic rock/metal should check this out.

Tracklist:
1. Illusionate
2. Between The Lines
3. Souls Highway
4. Blinded
5. Endless Waters
6. Fiction City
7. Sunset 28
8. A Last Farewell
9. A Season In Green
10. Gimme Gimme Gimme