KIKIMORA returns with their new album "For a Broken Dime." The band remains true to their main philosophy: spectacular musicianship, dressed in a contemporary sound, production, and approach. The band puts an emphasis on the melodic songs, which in many cases can even be called AOR, despite their heavier than usual sound. Regardless of how you want to label their music, fans of melody and high-level musicianship will find much to be delighted with here." The album has ten songs.

"Bound for Destruction" is the first. It's a somewhat murky sound with peaks of light, and heavy with keyboards. Nikola has a really nice voice as well. "Spell of Love" swings with a sexy groove in its mid-tempo pace. The riffs are simple but do an effective job of carrying the sound, which expands during the chorus. "Edge of Freedom" has a more tender sound, driven by piano and pensive vocals, followed by a sturdy riff. So far however, the album isn't anything special for me. The band will need to kick it into a higher gear.

"Have Mercy on Me" is more like it. The sound is rousing with a balance of keyboards and guitars, and vocalist Nikola belts out some very high notes. There is still a bit of darkness to their music at times, and this is unusual for the genre. "Hit and Run" has a long lead-in of a steady guitar riff and bluesy leads, before the big sound hits. From there however, the riff is just too stale and overly used in the past. "Father to Son Song" is another tender offering, but it really fails to have much of an impact. I hate to say it, but the band appears to be struggling to create meaningful songs.

"Nightmare" closes the album. It's unfortunately another utterly forgettable song. AOR can be a really hard genre to navigate, because there was a period of time for nearly a decade and a half where it just dominated the air waves. Since it nearly died forever in 1992, there has been a re-birth since, mostly overseas from the US. Today, bands have to work three times as hard to create something that hasn't been heard before...and this is where KIKIMORA has failed. They have a talented singer, but the music is trite.