Vlad in Tears
Unbroken

Vlad is in tears but stands unbroken in the fight to break through the mainstream that can be described as a shark tank, the music business is relentless. They say in the press info that Unbroken is just about anything, anything but boring that is. And I can agree with them about that, boring is certainly not something I would use to describe this album. It is powerful, catchy, varied, energetic, a bit gothic, groovy and of course modern – I think modern metal is a good description of how these guys sound, you could add alternative to the modern metal thing if you like.

Mr. Vlad is a good vocalist and sings really well, we have clear vocals and some more screamy ones – good variation there even though I think they could have lost the grunty stuff. The production is excellent as well; great power stands unbroken in this German quartet’s fifth album. They might just break through with this one, but I doubt it. It is better than many of the more successful modern metal bands out there but there are many better bands out there as well and even though these guys are not boring and very good, they don’t really stand out with a memorable album.

As much as I like this album I think it is somewhat lacking, it is too long; with a 55 minutes playing time you need a more dynamic album to make it work. And I also think they are short at least one really memorable hit song, the songs on the album are very good and it is entertaining to listen to them but none of them really stand out. Maybe nothing extraordinary but still entertaining to listen to, maybe that is all that one really need but as a critic I have higher demands than that.

In the end I think Vlad does well but so does many other bands. I also think that those who get this album will not be disappointed but that is also true about many other albums. The problem is that this shark tank that is the music business is a really vicious place and you need to be really ruthless to really rise to the surface there and it feels like these guys are too nice and plays too much by the rules. Nevertheless, I think they are good and they are certainly not boring.

HHHHHHH