Mental Home - Upon the Shores of Inner Seas

At this point, I don't think that anything that I write could do this album justice. In a nutshell, Mental Home here have atoned for every pompous entry into the annals of classically based metal. Which is where the true irony enters into play here, for by every account, I should find Upon the Shores... an overblown affair laden with cheap keyboard sounds and triggered drums, yet instead I have found an album with which I can easily connect to. Having all of the ingredients does not necessitate fine cuisine, something necessary needed to add the extra spark required to make the average superior. Call it what you will, but in this regard Mental Home excel, and as I've tried to say simply in the last 5 sentences, the album is amazing. I curse my ineptitude and blocky writing, for what this album truly deserves is something poetically written to explain the incredible use of melody, but with me as your guide through this, you'll have to accept my words. "Reviewing" this is difficult, partially because I'm constantly hearing something new, but also because this is a body of work better left undissected and experienced as a whole. I mentioned classically based, and this may be an ignorant statement, but the arrangements here remind me of works that I have heard (albeit in limited quantity), seamlessly put together, allowing complex structures to ebb and flow, part of what makes this album so necessary. There are human flaws, a forced drum fill here, some iffy production there, but this all becomes a part of the album, and when one of the many guitar solos comes through your speakers, demanding your attention, any small marks are instantly forgotten. To me, comparable to Dissection in that the album transcends anything else in terms of the degree of emotional content. Highly, highly recommended to any and all that find "beauty in darkness".