Review Summary: They fit the bill despite their synth player being the highlight.
Undoubtedly an album and band for mall rats for the era it comes from, but to ignore CKY and Bam Margera, we have some metal-leaning Alt/Pop Rock songs made by strong appreciators for classic Hard Rock. Having said that, the reason this band made it big enough to get together with former Cocteau Twins producer John Fryer, is because Finland media was immediately pushing them as the new national equivalent of Backstreet Boys with their cover of "Wicked Game".
Don't let the Type O Negative style guitar layering fool you, there's hardly any form of Metal being played here, unless you count the singer's occasional shout-singing. Lyrically, they do the bare minimum which the singer's vocal range itself makes up for paired with frequent breathy falsetto hits that work with that strong studio-recording polish. If you want to notice any emotional depth production-wise, try listening to the synth parts on early live performances of songs like "Resurrection", "Gone With the Sin", "Heaven Tonight" and the particular piano sound on hit "Join Me in Death". Otherwise, if you're looking for the most metal-leaning tracks, listen to "Death Is In Love With Us Tonight", which has one of the catchiest hooks, the opener "I Love You (Prelude to Tragedy)" which has a main riff arguably taking notes from pedal effects used in Nu Metal. "Razorblade Kiss" has their guitar player using noticably low octave settings but ultimately fitting more as a Pop Rock song with an infectious chorus.
"Poison Girl" & "Right Here in My Arms" have very catchy riffs and well executed chord structures. The album closes with "One Last Time" which pairs Jangle Pop style acoustic guitar with a fuzzy 90's phaser key effect all complimented by a beautiful synthesizer guiding the verse sections and Beatles-like accompaniment to the chorus.
