It's extremely rare for me to find little enjoyment in a release, and to date, it's only happened a couple of times. Sometimes, though, there is something so insipid that crosses my desk that I just can't fathom how that record actually went through the writing process, recording, mixing and mastering motions, and STILL got through the metal gatekeeper. Today's review is one of those, "they must've been in a K-Hole" moments.

Now, my music taste is far and wide: I can listen to hard rock one minute and then merge into technical death metal the next, of which my ears feel that this is a totally seamless – and natural - transition. Hell, I was a teen when Nu metal became popular, with no shame in fessing up to having KORN, LIMP BIZKIT, SLIPKNOT and LINKIN PARK in my CD collection, but my music taste moved on and developed. So now, to this very day, the mind boggles when a band steps back in time and builds the framework of an entire album on a bygone era that is mostly best left in the late '90's. Sadly, this is exactly what Finnish metallers LOST SOCIETY have rolled out in "If the Sky Came Down".

The most frustrating aspects aren't the generically churned out expectant breakdowns or the retrogressive effects, it's the fact that there's potential for some serious brawn behind the music, if only LOST SOCIETY hadn't have opted for something as vapid and uninspiring in the songwriting and track structures displayed on "If the Sky Came Down". "112" is groovy but so diluted for 'safe' radio listening that it quickly merges into the equally bland "What Have I Done" without conscious awareness. It's only when you hear "(We Are The) Braindead" that your interest piques, but for no other reason than feeling there's some open plagiarism from SLIPKNOT's "Eyeless". Ugh. "Stitches" is no different from an IL NINO track, with the only saving grace being some interesting allusions to mental health and a few cleverly written lyrics.

The halfway point brings something a little different that I feel works well with a lustful melodic opener on "Awake", an aspect that LOST SOCIETY should have really run with far more on this album. There's a much more natural synergy between the melodic passages and high-energy the band bring than the formula they've saddled themselves with prior to this track, and that they sadly switch to once more in "Underneath", and then go off-piste even further with the filler "Creature", a track best left unsurfaced. "Hurt Me" unravels as an up-tempo NINE INCH NAILS "Closer" but far more monotonous and lacking any sort of connection - despite the potential for something very lascivious – and also felt in the title-track which transpires as yet another fat slab of sterility. Interestingly, the record bookends on the more tender feeling "Suffocating" – a track that masterfully projects introspective vulnerability and the first taste of LOST SOCIETY's personality - stripped-back-bare, showcasing Elbanna's raw and enticing vocal display perfectly. What a shame it's taken nearly forty minutes to feel real passion.

The talented toolbox of LOST SOCIETY is inescapable, and I can't dispute the band's musicianship and potential for something far bigger, less 'chocolate box' perfect, and wholly more memorable. The irony doesn't escape that LOST SOCIETY's "If the Sky Came Down" feels, well, lost, and incredibly forgettable, which is truly disappointing given how fantastic this record really could be if it didn't try as hard to appeal to the masses. To quote from "Stitches": "It's so exhausting being this fucking invalidated." Next time, LOST SOCIETY, do YOUR 'thing'.