This Void Inside
My Second Birth My Only Death

The story of This Void Inside begins over fifteen years ago somewhere in Italy I assume; Dave Shadow (very Italian name) formed the band as a one-man project back in 2003. In 2008 they were a band and they released the debut album Dust, and then ten years later they released the new album My Second Birth My Only Death. It is an album with a kind of reclusive artwork and a list of song that has fourteen titles, which is a lot but two of them are considered bonus tracks and the opening title track is an intro track. What I wonder when I take on this album is whether or not there has been any fans that has been awaiting this comeback album for these guys and if that is the case I wonder if it was worth waiting so long for.

It is gothic metal if we are to place a label on it, most people know Him and that is a pretty good reference to use to describe this album. Quite catchy. The production is very good and I think they offer a somewhat fresh sound even though they hardly can be seen as innovative or ground-breaking. There are not many surprises, the gothic vocalist least of all, and while the album is fairly varied it still feels rather long and I think they could easily have done away with the bonus tracks and the album would have been better for it. They could probably have skipped a few more than that as well as the album would have benefitted from being shorter and more direct with less fillers.

This is a good album with some excellent tracks, but there are also some fillers and the bonus tracks feels like something that doesn’t really add anything to the bigger picture. Memories’ Dust is probably the best of the tracks, my favourite. Here I am I also notice due to the opening sequence that always has me thinking of the Star Trek fanfare, the first tones are very similar but then there is no fanfare but a good song instead. The best parts of this album are really enjoyable and impressive and I really like the album overall, it could have been shorter with less slower songs but those enjoying Him and the likes of that should enjoy this one quite a lot, this is better than most stuff I have heard by Him.

To conclude I think that you cannot really go wrong with this album, you will not dislike it. If you are less of a goth fan you might find it a bit predictable and a bit long but still like it. I think it is brilliant at times and well worth checking out, a good gothic metal album that will be liked by everyone.

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