Hailing from Sweden, comes Melodic Black/Death Metal band AGAINST I, and their second full-length, titled “Songs for the Dying.” The album has 11 songs, and “Bonded in blood” is first. It’s an interesting mix…the music is tinged with a hardened sound at times, while melodic at others, and the vocals are raspy…almost Black Metal-ish. Overall, it is presented in a fairly straightforward manner. “A Hymn for the end” has a similar sound, in terms of the simplicity of the riffs. They use the low E chord as the basis for much of the sound, although they do spread their wings a bit. “Crimson Queen” solidifies the first four songs as repetitive, and uninventive, unfortunately. The vocals are done in the same cadenced manner, and the riffs are trite once again.

“From the beyond” diversifies the album with keyboards and thick bass notes, and that’s what I am talking about. The song swings with a groove also. “Father of Lies” has a slightly darker sound, augmented with keyboards, but the riff is again overly simple. They do throw in a drum solo however, and it appears that they are trying. ”Judgement of the damned” has a riff that moves with the bass guitar, but again, the band falls right back to a similar formula from there. I understand why bands do this, but it just makes for a homogeneous listening experience. “Praise the dead” is another repetitive song. They do sprinkle in some keyboards and backing vocal harmonies, but it is just too little too late.

“Scorched Earth” has a groove to it, but again, the riffs are just too simple, too overused. The guttural vocals towards the end are a bit different however. “The blackest night” closes the album, and you guessed it, with another riff that is not inventive or creative. Overall, this wasn’t a bad album per se, it just suffered from the same sickness that plagues many metal bands today…an overuse of old formulas, and an unwillingness to break away from the norm. Some Metalheads crave this lever of consistency, but as a long time reviewer and avid consumer of music, I expect more.