To my surprise Mortal Love has been around for quite a while already, but not until now have I heard about them. Fortunately enough, I received the promo of their second album "I Have Lost...", which definitely got me interested in the band's music. Already the first song managed to blow me away with its depth and very fortuitous arrangements (despite the Björk-ish vocal intro). Gladly I found out that the whole album is of more or less the same quality. Ensuing listens only prove my first perceptions right, as the depth of "I Have Lost..." keeps the listener intrigued even in the long run.... what a great album :)

The music on "I Have Lost..." is a mixture of melodic and symphonic metal - thus Within Temptation influences are rather prominent on this album. In addition, Cat (the vocalist) has a voice slightly similar to that of Sharon den Adel's (the vocalist of WT). It's quite safe to say that fans of Within Temptation's Enter will definitely find this album tremendous. Occasionally there are male vocals, which represent rather successful counterpart to Cat's soft, sensitive voice (once again reminding me of WT's Enter). Nonetheless, Mortal Love's music also draws influences from other sources as well... for example, on the first song there are parts reminiscent of the Gathering. On "Sanity" Cat sings "this is my theatre of tragedy", which makes me wonder if also ToT is one of their influences.

Production-wise this release is rather good. The sounds are to the point, although there's still some room for improvement. For example, the drums could have been mixed better. Nevertheless, the sounds are assertive and good.

All in all, Mortal Love is definitely a welcome addition to the field of symphonic metal. "I Have Lost..." is surprisingly strong album, and I, for one, have high hopes regarding their forthcoming works. I reckon fans of female-fronted metal and rock will most likely find this album worth checking out. So in case you listen to Within Temptation, Nightwish, Xandria, the Gathering, Leaves' Eyes, Lacuna Coil, Theatre of Tragedy, Elis, After Forever, the Crest and the like, be sure to give Mortal Love a listen.

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- MAGE (June 10th, 2005)

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LINE-UP:
Cat: Vocals Damous: Drums Lev: Bass, Backing Vocals Rain6: Guitars, Keys, Backing Vocals Gabriah: Guitars Mulciber: Keyboards, Programming, Cello Additional musicians: Zet: All Keys & Programming, Additional Guitars and Bass on 'Everything'
Producer:	Zet
Mixing by:	Horn, Andy
Mastering by:	Horn, Andy

	TRACKLIST:
	01. Existence 02. Serenity 03. Spine 04. Aporation 05. Senses 06. Empathy 07. Reality 08. Sanity 09. Indentity 10. Hope 11. Memory 12. Everything Length: 58:23