We are all familiar to the name of Ville Laihiala; he has connected his name with the last days of SENTENCED. POISONBLACK is the band that comprised Ville behind the guitars who took over the vocals after the burial of SENTENCED'scoffin.. So, this is the new album from POISONBLACK and here I am wondering whether they will managed (if they want to) to escape the heavy shadow of SENTENCED that is inevitably mentioned in all the album reviews.

Without being a die-hard follower nor a Gothic devotee, I have kept contact with this Finnish treat mainly due to Ville's vocals. The first two albums were closer to the Gothic concept delivering simple song structures and a clear intention to catch the listener's attention with groovy rhythms and easy to remember melodies. Fortunately, the band had the itch to do something more (and yes better) and when"Dead Heavy Day" was released, I realized the trend to sound heavier. "Of Rust And Bones" continues on the same direction with additional attention to the guitar work that has taken some steps away from the -most of the times- repetitive Gothic Metal character. Hence, "My Sun Shines Black" opens the album with a riff driven attitude that fits like a glove to Ville's singing style. The song is heavy and I have to admit is closer to the "Funeral Album" album with mid tempo breaks and nice guitar leads.

Ville sounds a little bit more harsh than the past and thus has moved a couple of feet away from the mellow Gothic approach shown in the first two albums. The keyboards pop up here and there and give depth to the compositions playing with the usual POISONBLACK dark and down mood atmosphere. The albums continues laying down nice grooves taking short breaks with two ballads "My World" and "Invisible" that sound good by overall predictable. "Down The Drain" is the 8 minutes long surprise that hides some of the band's potentials. With a slow almost Jazz tempo this track flirts with the term "ballad" and proves to be strong in the guitar solo where some blues scales make a glory appearance. The distorted and down tuned guitars bear some of Zakk Wylde's attitude while the keyboard solo adds one more interesting layer in this song. I hope/wish that this is the direction POISONBLACK will choose to follow in the near future since they seem to know their way around.

The album closes with "The Last Song" a song where the opening bass riff of METALLICA's "My Friend Of Misery" came to my mind and made like this tune. So, this is the new POISONBLACK album where the band takes some steps forward but overall they are not re-discovering the wheel. They are walking on already carved paths that combined to the striking SENTENCED resemblances claim part of their fan-base. The promising element will make me continue following this Finnish band and hope that evolution is close.