Promises, Promises or so they say. PROMISES is a five man metal band formed in back in 1994. Straight out of the Czech Republic I can only expect something different here. In The Pharmacy is the second CD, for PROMISES, who also have 3 demos under their belts. PROMISES has survived time and a near break up to bring us In The Pharmacy.

At first listen, I don’t know what to make of Viktor Svoboda’s vocals; they are rather in a high range, in a Geddy Lee kind of way. At points in the album I find them annoying. The vocals are sung and shouted, and quite unique sounding. Some songs they don‘t grate on your nerves as much as others, and you start to get used to them. Listening to this album, I feel it is does not really fit the doom genre. Doom to me is Black Sabbath and Electric Wizard. PROMISES has nothing in common with Black Sabbath. The guitars are heavy and gallopy and melodic, but they are not down tuned or slow. The drums are for the most part mid-paced with lots of double bass. They could be turned up a bit in the mix. The lyrics are relatively depressing, focusing on themes of love gone wrong. I wonder at times if some of the members were In The Pharmacy before writing this album. Musically PROMISES saving grace is indeed its two guitarists, carrying the band along the planes of different rhythms and riffs. After a while, though In The Pharmacy gets redundant and a bit painful to listen to, and I wish for the end of the album to come.

I will give PROMISES credit for having a completely unique sound and for sticking together for so long in the world of metal. As for In The Pharmacy, only a prescription of heavy sedatives could get you through this album.