u/No-Opportunity2565

For me, I‘m still as enthused about this album as on the day it released. I‘ve listened to it on my way to work, during breaks, on walks and during my time off. It just always seems fitting, rain or shine.

The standout tracks HWYF, Sanctuary, Self Destruct and both ballads have become a mainstay. I also enjoy Tell Me When You’ve Had Enough, Rapture, Calm Down and the closer for what they are and found that they profit from focused listening. Sanctuary has come out when I was doing five star ratings, but now, it would have to be a 10 for me. Considering how much staying power it has and how little there is amiss with it, I feel like that rating would be warranted.

The opener has such a memorable electronic beat that makes it recognizable. I felt like it‘s an amazing song with a good pulsating undercurrent. It sets this record‘s tone well. The „brick by brick by brick“ line on The House of Wolves is a good interlude that burrows itself in the mind immediately and returns in the pre-chorus and chorus. Empire (Let Them Sing) has that driving bassline and tempo change during the line „They came like moths to a flame“ and „You live like a house in a hurricane“. The way this track moves back into the verse after the chorus is brilliantly done and memorable. Shadow Moses is heavier and has a grand chorus, starting with the line „Can you tell from my expression?“ that lends itself well to sing along to in a live setting.
Hospital for Souls is an emotionally impactful song and a relatable one too. The heavy instrumental segment sets a more somber, self-reflective mood. Its placement after Crooked Young is also meaningful, as that track was about self-loathing and indulgence. The closer is a track that is a bit more contained, with calm, percussive instrumentation and electronics, as well as a guitar melody. It is a sombre yearning song and ends with a big flourish, before it calmly fizzles out. On the whole, I feel like Sempiternal is a superb, flawlessly executed album and one of this band‘s best efforts. Highly recommended.

Listen on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/album/6IYPmM3xsOPL2XPSvf1ZAz?si=331aXHfzRlqH4WGoLoGPmQ&utm_source=copy-link

For me, it has pretty much remained the same, if not increased. I really appreciate that both the eighties songs are placed at the end of the album, so it‘s like a retro detour to close the album. I thought this was a smart move.

Apart from that, I still love the opener, Fight Like Hell, All That I‘ve Ever Known and the singles. Even Love At First Bite is growing on me.

What‘s your take, a month later?

BTW: You can check by clicking on your profile image on the Spotify homescreen and then / streaming statistics.

A Tear in the Fabric of Life https://open.spotify.com/album/2XtEsHRjETx2dbNcVNLdHu?si=WNHUuHJgTA-tFqz2w8wgcw&utm\_source=copy-link

Death Is Little More https://open.spotify.com/album/0CmKu8SgKIY2nhDF3BrwRr?si=fkhgi4vYQwq57ENtoJD3Xw&utm\_source=copy-link

Symptoms of Survival https://open.spotify.com/album/5BO87WU4XaRXEU2Uxrg2le?si=8ButmzpsQS-QefO5TaYKCQ&utm\_source=copy-link

Sempiternal https://open.spotify.com/album/6IYPmM3xsOPL2XPSvf1ZAz?si=6jc-NPdBSRau5zyZdz79Ew&utm\_source=copy-link

That‘s The Spirit https://open.spotify.com/album/7FqHuAvmREiIwVXVpZ9ooP?si=QXb2KnEbT8265APmd\_4dRA&utm\_source=copy-link

POST HUMAN: NeX GEn https://open.spotify.com/album/1k7OXnGQPV4zF3seDwRroD?si=SK22xL21QyOoiw5g4BiHgg&utm\_source=copy-link

Lo-files https://open.spotify.com/album/34pF0wOGswprAZCsI8A1Fs?si=B89JIO\_PRjSyqJNHjkSRkQ&utm\_source=copy-link

GUNSHIP https://open.spotify.com/album/03Rl4TjvJVdR2nBUupV7Wf?si=umNkYPSBTM-d10EmsomtNw&utm\_source=copy-link

THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND https://open.spotify.com/album/1x6eC7V3NYQmscUnF9AK6T?si=fOL0GJ8zTUCH9Zne92pVgw&utm\_source=copy-link

DISPOSE https://open.spotify.com/album/1x6eC7V3NYQmscUnF9AK6T?si=fOL0GJ8zTUCH9Zne92pVgw&utm\_source=copy-link

The Plot In You https://open.spotify.com/album/6PJzcqwj8n19g9cdDWRiTf?si=V7jLDDsZSJq2Ph2\_miP-qw&utm\_source=copy-link

Sanctuary https://open.spotify.com/album/5yUYipjU1lsVEFkH5SURdv?si=hLBdnMStRvqdfGc1aftTDQ&utm\_source=copy-link

Evanescence https://open.spotify.com/album/0CHgu3JbE3Y0XQSejmQqLU?si=xklXWGcNRyGfgCZDzlj2pA&utm\_source=copy-link

This song is so much fun! I can‘t stop listening to it.

https://open.spotify.com/track/2FpTKYNgIKLGpNYu7doupu?si=7kK5uf1hTgaZEEIL0\_fsiw&utm\_source=copy-link

I like how reduced to the core and focused Dying Wish‘s instrumentation is. There is not one electronically generated sound it seems, except some snippets from a recorded war speech on the opener. The music on this album is high-energy, with fast drumming, heavy power chords and riffs. Some sections dial back the intensity and slow down the pacing for a cleanly sung flourish. Paved In Sorrow has a slower pacing and clean singing only. Apart from that, Emma Boster‘s vocals are delivered harshly, a blend of growls and screams that work well with this instrumentation. Sonically, these tracks mostly fall into the same category, which is a good thing, giving this album its consistency. Though it was hard to tell tracks such as Kiss of Judas and Hell‘s Final Blessing apart. The quibbles I have are that the harhsness of the vocals can become a little grating after a while. Also, some songs, like Tongues of Lead, take the rage-fueled screaming too far in my opinion. On the whole, Symptoms of Survival is a very good album that you can listen to for a decent while, as even though the sound is stripped to its core, it is complex enough to offer plenty of details and nuances to discover.

Listen on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/album/5BO87WU4XaRXEU2Uxrg2le?si=LZ3Ay4SgRpO2e_-ZHmCIIw&utm_source=copy-link

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The new Single Seethe just released.

Listen on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/album/3UBJnVsxBJ61rit0lJ1xk8?si=fbvFLdCKRjGxX2ae9GYoNA&utm\_source=copy-link

Yesterday I listened to the full album again. And I have to say, everything on it just felt so consistent and the continuum created by these songs remains unbroken from start to finish.

Now I‘m thinking this album is a bit underrated. I feel like it‘s a marvel of a release and still sounds captivating, even 15 years later.