1. Road to Enlightenment
2. The Great Storm Upon Us
3. Follow the Raven
4. Shred

Notanumber have clearly gone down the well-trodden path of fusing kicking metal riffs with screams and harmonised, big choruses. The combinations they end up with are nowhere near original, rather sounding like their aim was to sound like Killswitch Engage, but rock out a bit harder on the breakdowns, which they often do and I’ll praise them for going over the top on that front, but I fear for their lack of dynamics. After listening to this CD I kind of feel like I’ve beaten up, shouted at and forced to stare into a 100 watt lamp for 20 minutes, save a couple of small respites in “Follow the Raven”.

Some of the elements I enjoyed were the transitions between the various sections of each track; Notanumber found innovative ways and effects to get from one part to the next. The guitar solos were also reasonably well constructed and catchy, if a little ’safe’.

The lyrics, from what I could make out, are pretty cliched, which is a shame from a reviewer’s point of view, but I suppose it makes it easier for fans to catch on to the words.

Mostly though, I wish that Notanumber would tone down the intensity for more extended periods in their tracks to give a little more variation. I’m exhausted.