Austrian Melodic Death metallers LOST DREAMS return with a brand-new album titled "Exhale". Featuring a repertoire of 14 tracks, it is the first album to showcase the skills of new vocalist Sebastian Brandauer alongside band members Herbert Sopracolle (guitars), Andreas Maierhofer (guitars), Dominik Hormann (bass) and Rafael Peychär (drums).

"Exhale" wastes no time in delivering a generous serving of pummeling Melodeath, opting with "Ego" as the opening track. Snarls are abundant here, set amidst a mass of riffs and drum beats. Similarly, the subsequent track "Lethargy" kicks off with some raspy snarls that are interspersed with throaty growls. The synth intro of "Crashing Beyond The Horizon" gives the track a modern feel, which I find to be a nice touch, however, the clean vocals that are juxtaposed with the growls complement each other poorly; the former sound too loud in contrast to the latter, resulting in a state of messiness and confusion. The clean vocals at the end of the song could use some improvement as well, as they sounds rather bland and sloppy, hence resulting in an anti-climactic atmosphere.

"Finding X" is, disappointingly, another run-of-the-mill Melodic Death Metal song. Formulaic riffs and a generally lackluster composition is what this track is all about. "Oscillating" is another track that employs a synthesized approach to its composition, functioning as a background accompaniment to the guttural vocals and riffs. My only complaint regarding this song is the addition of an unnecessary spoken quote at the beginning. The exceptionally aggressive "It's Not a Game It's an Onslaught" is packed to the brim with pummeling drum beats and riffs, making it one of the stand-out tracks on this album.

"Kyrie Helleison" and "Weight Of The World" are some of the more promising tracks on this album, in my personal opinion. The slowing down of the tempo in the latter makes for a refreshing change of pace, and I do enjoy the slight hint of melancholy evoked from both tracks. Lyrically, "Purple Clouds" might seem to be another dejected narrative about the bleakness of life, however, it does serve as a soothing change to the prior assailing nature of the earlier tracks. Moreover, the execution of the clean vocals here is a lot better compared to "Crashing Beyond The Horizon". Even though there is not much development in the 'cleans', they are emotive and fit much better with the general crestfallen feel of "Purple Clouds".

LOST DREAMS' latest album is decent at best and boring at worst. It does have its fair share of headbang-worthy moments and a few good tracks. Sebastian has a solid set of pipes, and I give credit to the band for their utilization of synths to give the album a modern feel. Unfortunately, the album is marred by a high number of conventional riffs and uninteresting solos. There is also much room for improvement in regard to the clean vocals. In other words, "Exhale" is an average album to listen to, so those of you who are looking for something spectacular and fresh, you may want to skip this production.