Poisonblack - Escapexstacy

Here's the catchy 2003 debut album by Poisonblack, the goth metal band featuring the singer, Ville Laihiala, of the great, but now disbanded, Sentenced. Sentenced had always leaned a bit towards the goth metal side of things, but Poisonblack is full out goth metal with many of the annoying tendencies of that genre such as a crooning depressed sounding singer and lots of keyboards. Fortunately, and probably thanks to the songwriting skill of Ville, this all comes together to create some good songs. The guitar riffs are similar to what is heard on Sentenced albums, and this could easily have been a Sentenced album with a little tweaking. Songs such as "Love infernal," "All Else Is Hollow," and "Exciter" will stick in your head and you'll be regrettably singing them in your head after hearing this album.

8/10