Daeonia

This Dutch folk/rock/goth band has been around since 1994, but sadly, this disc doesn't do much for me. Most of the songs have the basic verse-chorus-verse structure with nothing much going on to expand them beyond that outline. The occasional use of organic piano gives the numbers a nice touch, and there are a couple points where things slow down a bit, letting the David Sylvian-ish vocals of the lead singer linger nicely. I don't know, I think all in all that the songs just sound too damn similar. Maybe it's the songwriting. Maybe it's the metal moments, which sometimes can work but that squealing hard rock guitar just puts me right back in some Los Angeles bar in the mid-'80s, watching some stupid hair band wank away at their flying vees. Singer Robynne Leah (of Sepherium) makes a couple cameos, doing some back-up work and adding a nice touch to this otherwise fairly bland offering.