:SITD: ROT ALBUM ACCESSION RELEASE: OCTOBER 30, 2009 REVIEW: FEBRUARY 4, 2010

:SITD:, short for Shadows In the Dark, have been at it for quite a while now, moving frantically between industrial EBM and more melodically constructed futurepop with varied success. "Rot" is no different. Good is blended with bad, hard with soft and instrumentals with vocal songs.

Carsten Jacek, Thomas Lesczensi and Frank Francesco feel comfortable relying on static beats and manic synth leads, but as they have two very different sounding vocalists they still manage to vary their electronic brand of modern EBM somewhat. The standout strength of "Rot" is the powerful ambience surrounding most of the tracks, lifting it far beyond the standard mold for this particular type of music.

Shadows In the Dark 2009 still sound very much like Shadows In the Dark, but every individual element has been refined and polished on "Rot". The next logical step would be to attempt some form of musical evolution as they seemingly feel a bit too safe for their own good.

NIKLAS FORSBERG