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Listening to the new album from these Italian goths, I was once again convinced that it's no coincidence that attitudes toward their work (which, by the way, dates back to 1980!) range from complete rejection to boundless love and near-worship. And it's not even that each of the Italians' albums is unlike the others — no, within a single album the songs differ so much that at times you get the (pleasant) impression of listening to a compilation from different bands rather than the work of one. Two vocalists: one a tender female voice, simultaneously mournful, romantic, sensual, and at times aggressively fierce (Elena Alice); the other a melancholic, weary male tenor that shifts into a distorted, angry half-scream, half-cry. The music ranges from cold, danceable EBM to gentle gothic ballads. Woven into the album's music are Near Eastern instrumental elements, heavy guitar fragments, and all manner of industrial sounds, yet remarkably, amid all this musical diversity and abundance, I never felt a sense of excess, oversaturation, or chaos. The album is very cohesive and, although not delivered in a single unified key, still gives the impression of a thoroughly monolithic work. I don't think it will become the pinnacle of the Italians' career, but it will sit quite comfortably in any goth's collection.