Escapexstacy

Following the end of the band Sentenced, singer Ville Laihiala went on to form the gothic metal band Poisonblack. Though, on their debut he opted to only play guitar rather than sing. This may have been the best decision he could have made. For, the guest singer on the entire album is by far one of the greatest gothic metal singers of all time; Juha-Pekka Leppäluoto. JP, as he is often referred to as, is the singer for the Finnish gothic metal band, Charon. His voice set Poisonblack on the right track, which makes it a shame that Laihiala's voice on the following three albums just is not up to par with JP's.

Regardless, their debut album, Escapexstacy is really quite good. The music has a solid feel to it, with remarkable guitar tone that manages to be gone for their next three releases. One of the main attractions is the lack of flashy guitar parts. True, this is a common theme throughout gothic metal, but on their other albums the guitar work is more rock and less goth. Though, the solos and leads on this album are done tastefully, which makes them enjoyable. Essentially, with the addition of keyboards, the album is almost like a heavier version of HIM, but with less aim towards high school girls. Speaking of keyboards, there are songs such as "The State" that use piano and keyboards to add a wonderfully dark tone to the music.

Not enough can be said about JP's vocals. Every album from his band or song he guest appears on the listenere is guaranteed near excellent vocal delivery from him. The problem, well not really problem, but rather drawback is that every song essentially has the same lyrical theme concerning either sex or desire. Luckily it is not done nearly as tasteless as in the 80s, but it's still there. That's not to say none of the songs have good lyrics, and luckily they are serious enough to allow the listener to actually enjoy them, but it seems for a writer who has worked with Sentenced for quite some time that the lyrical realm would be a tad broader.

Basically, if you enjoy listening to a wonderful singer, well done music, and not great but still enjoyable lyrics then this is definitely an album to check out.