RED CELL LEAD OR FOLLOW ALBUM PROGRESS RELEASE: MAY 14, 2008 REVIEW: MAY 14, 2008

No more guitars, but more singing instead. That's a quick and convenient way to describe the new album from Sweden's Red Cell. Singer Jimmy is taking his thing a bit further, getting rid of most of the distorted shouting and focusing more on melodic vocals, to great effect and it still fits the music well. Which by the way is modern, hard EBM with hooky melodies for the most part, leaning towards synthpop at times.

This a noticeable move forward since their debut album, but they still overuse the same soundbanks – most tracks are very similar – and it's not unique in the slightest. However, it's very competently done, and now with added musicality.

"Attention" is interesting because it sounds exactly like Antiloop with distorted vocals! It works well, but "Lust" and "Grace" are the two highpoints for me; the rest is more hit and miss. But those two tracks really lift the album a couple of notches.

JOHAN CARLSSON