Review: 01.2008

BY BLOOD ALONE
Seas of Blood
Jericho Hill Records

Seas of Blood, the debut CD from New England’s By Blood Alone, delivers eight energetic tracks that showcase the band’s unique style of theatrical metal and progressive rock. Most of the songs are lengthy epics that clock in at over 7 minutes with varying tempo and melody changes. The band’s frontwoman, Cruella, does a nice job on the breathy ballads, but her vocals sound somewhat restrained on the edgier rock and metal songs. Tracks like “Lovely Lies,” “Seas of Blood,” and “Deny Yourself” begin with moody instrumental intros that set a shadowy atmosphere, and the creepy “Little Lady Lillit” sounds like a sinister nursery rhyme that belongs in a Tim Burton movie. Seas of Blood is a solid debut release that offers an eclectic array of progressive hard rock.

— Maxx