To/Die/For - Wounds Wide Open

Published Oct. 15 2006

*=Staff's pick	Intro - Sorrow Wicked Circle* Guilt Ridden State* Like Never Before Under A Velvet Sky* Scar Diary New Heaven The Quiet Room Liquid Lies (I Just) Want You Sorrow Remains*

Genre	Gothic Metal	Jape Perätalo	Vocals
Tracks	11	Antza Talala	Guitar
Runningtime	41 Min.	Joonas Koto	Guitar
Label	Spinefarm Records	Jarkko S. Strandman	Bass
Release	04 Oct. 2006	Santtu Lonka	Drums
Country	Finland	-	Keyboards
Similar artists	Charon, The 69 Eyes, For My Pain

Well, gothic metal from Finland isn't maybe the most sensational thing in the world right now but it if you look beyond the wall of bands that keep popping up all the time there are quite a few that are extremely capable and many of those appeal a lot to me personally. To/Die/For must almost be considered as veterans of the genre. Wounds Wide Open is actually their fifth album in seven years but judging by the three albums I've heard it's absolutely not quantity over quality. On the other hand you can look upon this release as their second one, in 2003 the band actually split up and when vocalist Jape Perätalo decided to form a new band the record company convinced them to re-name themselves from Tiaga to the old moniker Jape used to operate under. The brand new To/Die/For released their "debut" entitled IV in 2005 and now the next one is up for inspection.

Even if To/Die/For operate in an overcrowded genre they have in Jape Perätalo a fantastic vocalist with an original touch and that is one aspect that deviates them from the rest. My humble opinion is that Jape's melancholic and bittersweet voice works as a rocket launcher for the band. But on the other hand they also got the capability of writing solid, catchy and addictive songs with tasteful arrangements. The Finns brings nothing new to the scene but there are few that can hold this consistency of high quality goth through an entire album. Wounds Wide Open is very even and it's not an easy task picking my favourite cuts. Wicked Circle and Guilt Ridden State opens the album in the best of ways with melodies, well, to die for. The chorus and guitar melodies on Under A Velvet Sky is as beautiful as can be with a magnificent work of Jape on top of that and the closer Sorrow Remains is a melancholic piece of art that leaves me with goose bumps all over. I also must mention that they have included a cover version of Ozzy Osbourne's (I Just) Want You from his Ozzmosis album. A great song indeed but the fact that To/Die/For's version is a replica of the original makes this cover quite pointless.

There is nothing much to complain about here really, maybe that a bit more diversity would make the album much more dynamic and even more interesting. Apart from that minor defect this is gothic metal at its prime and you will have difficulties finding better albums in the genre this year.

Production	Vocals	Compositions
8	8,5	8

Summary
8 chalices of 10 - Hawk