..And Oceans : The Symmetry of I, The Circle of O

The second album from this Finnish black metal band begins right where they left off. Not too much different from their debut album "The Dynamic Gallery Of Thoughts." They use the same kind of song structure that worked for them in the last album. There seems to be a little more emphasis on the guitars, with the keyboards lacking a little, but it doesn't effect the music at all. The keyboards are still there, but are used a little less probably considering the keyboardist got a whole CD to explore his ambient side. The songs still have the breaks with the keyboard lines that ..And Oceans fans have grown to love and the songs are still as catchy as ever. They use less of a brutal sound and more of a rock sound on this album, but the brutal parts are still there loud and clear.
 
One compliant of mine is that they haven't really tried anything new with this album, but to continue the same style they used on the last record. It isn't a breakthough album, but it is a great album for ..And Oceans fans and for people wanting to explore the band and I'm still walking away with their songs stuck in my head. And even though the two albums re very much alike, there is something about this album that makes me prefer this one over the debut.

If you are into ambient as well, you should get the double-cd version that has the extra Ambient cd done by their keyboardist.

                                                    Overall score:  85/100
Reviewed by Brian