After such a long time I finally hold the new record of H.O.S. in my hands. Was the past not always pleasant for the guys, the punches had something good too. Nowadays new line-up is stable and sounds like a union. All songs, if we exclude Awake (Accoustic), sound flawless and approve that Chris (g./ v.) and Kevin (b./ v.) are part of the band. The music is settled between Florida and Sweden. Sweden in this case means as well Gothenburg Melodic Death Metal as Stockholm moose dead and even pagan stuff a la Amon Amarth (Awake).
After the intro Deathtiny the call for arms starts. Bedtime convinces completely and also Awake with the pagan roots knows how to kick ass. Cursed and Signs in contrast show the problem this record has. The riffs are good but less catchy than they should be. They just don’t stay in ones ear. Final Love Song comes back to the high level and shows that this band got a big range of sounds. The clean vocals fit pretty well to this style. The straight headbanger Suicide at the end of the regular record whets my appetite for another turn. And that’s exactly what one should do. The songs sometimes need a while to grow. The last song is an acoustic, balladic version of the pagan song Awake. It fits absolutely not to the rest of the album, but with the refrain and the choir this song is absolutely worth listening to. Heathen people should avoid a closer look on the lyrics; the story gets the Edda only briefly. Anyhow, who ever is interested should check out Suicide and Awake to get an idea of H.O.S. and Awake (Accoustic) to hear a nice ballade.