Entwine - _Time of Despair_
(Spikefarm / XIII Bis, 2002)
by: David Rocher (2 out of 10)
Entwine's second full-length is the archetype of a release which epitomises the most irritating aspects of the gothic metal scene -- a quintet of eyeliner-enhanced pretty boys graced with the presence of an awesomely sexy gothic ivory-tickling chick, Entwine indulge in a nine-track collection of feeble melancholic dirges consisting of merely tolerable keyboard melodies vaguely attempting to enlighten prosaic, linear and tentatively heavy guitar work overlain with irritatingly smooth, testosterone-suppurating male vocals and the occasional oh-so-predictable half-hearted female chorus. Add to this enrapturing landscape the juvenile lovelorn lyrics, glamorous posturing and obnoxious musical facileness this disc exudes -- capped off by official distributor XIII Bis' infuriating habit of rudely cutting Spinefarm's traditionally lush booklets down to a lame and meaningless two-page inlay --, and you're faced with a failsafe method to obtain 43 minutes of sugar-coated romantic "gothic" pop metal, with the probably unrequested bonus of a distinctly exasperated reviewer. [Quentin Kalis: "Yet another helping of bland goth-inspired metal. _ToD_ is, in almost all respects, the same as its unremarkable predecessor, right down to the inclusion of the same formulaic song structures and embarrassing attempts at creating a woeful sound. Entwine have the potential to produce an album infinitely better than this insipid release, but until they move beyond the confines of their comfort zone, this is unlikely to happen."]
(article published 1/9/2002)
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