Score: 7.5/10. By Blood Alone hail from Portland with vocal duties handled by none other than the awesomely named Cruella. They play a brand of progressive symphonic metal, despite the name of the band implying some kinda death/doom act. Okay, this record isn’t bad, although on their next release (and going by this one, there should be a next one), I would like to see the production beefed up a bit. That alone should then carry the band into the premier league, as By Blood Alone has real potential. Kicking off with the 7+ minute ‘Serpentarius’, this song gives us a pretty good idea what alleyway By Blood Alone are going down. Next track in ‘Wants Me Dead’ continues the good work of the opener, with the keys carrying the song along quite nicely. Listening to this album, I get a sorta 70’s vibe on some tracks, and that is not a bad thing. There is a lot happening on this cd, with other favourite tracks including ‘Nidhogg’, ‘Lovely Lies’, the slower ‘Seas of Blood’ and the quirky ‘Little Lady Lillit. Overall, the record is not a bad offering, and I especially love the keyboard work by Jenny Williamson giving that aforementioned 70s feel. There is a lot of promise here, and there is no reason why this band should not be up there with the big guns in the future! Worth checking out!

Reviewed by Dave