Another gothic/rock CD, this time from The Netherlands, fell in my hands. Pearls In Dirt is ASRAI's third album, which includes ten new compositions. So let's see what's up with their new release.
Not many things to say about ASRAI. The band is active from 1985, but in 1988 changed the name to ASRAI. The roots of the band lie in the new wave and punk scene of the 80s; hence their music already had a melancholic dark side. From 1989 to 1995, ASRAI released four demo tapes. Their first album As Voices Speak was out in 1997. Touch In The Dark is the second full-length album, released in 2004. They made a video clip for the single of the album, Pale Light. That release took the attention of Season Of Mist and singed a contract in 2006. One year later, Pearls In Dirt hits the stores.
To tell you the truth, there are more than enough goth/dark/whatever metal bands out there. The thing is that most of them are average. ASRAI is one of those cases that I don't know if they are above average or not. First time I listened to Pearls In Dirt I was sure that it was an average album. Typical goth rock music, with some punk(?) elements in one or two songs, with female vocals. OK, it's not crap but, on the other hand, is not an album that makes the difference. So I think it is just above average. It has two three nice songs, like Lost, Awaken (here I think is the only song you can listen to the punk past of the bands members) and  Delilah's Lie but most of the others are just above the mediocre.
Boys and girls that likes painless goth rock music will love it. For all the others Pearls In Dirt is an album not really bad, but an average one. It has some nice moments and it's worth to listen to it, but I think there is better music out there. And something I forgot to say previously: Karin is doing a good job behind the drum kit (strangely).