Review: Diary of Dreams - (if)

I will skip all the praise about Diary of Dreams and their importance for the dark wave/gothic electro scene and I shall move to the album itself, which if I have to be honest they could perfectly do without. Sometimes performers and bands are so tired of touring, making music or other professional enterprises. However, Adrian Hates released (if) to all the high expectations of their fan base. I am far from being a die hard fan, but I am not impressed at all.

First of all, (if) has nothing new to offer, it contains everything that we have already heard and has absolutely no Easter eggs throughout the record. You should definitely get the special edition, which contains four extra tracks, which happen to be a bit better than most of the original content. Actually two of my favourite (quite a strong word, btw) happen to be bonus, but who knows could be a little act of greediness to make you buy the more expensive edition (I am joking...or not?).

Another thing is that most of the tracks are like material from early releases left for the generations. Perhaps (if) is somehow a return to the roots, but not quite impressive, by the way. It is more like a patch quilt made out of leftovers, although I am pretty sure Hates has put quite an effort...we are talking about sixteen songs. Still, he has quite the experience with extensive tracks, especially when you have the key to creating a dark ballad album, filled with despair and grief.

Even the pilot single "The Wedding" is nothing special...nothing to hold on while listening, neither the singing nor the music. Actually most of the album just goes into thin air no matter how much I am listening to it, which is quite a pity having in mind their previous three efforts. Of course (if) has a few good tracks, far from being excellent, but are easily spotted and memorized. Hopefully, you can find a gem or two, despite my harsh attitude towards the album. Actually I like all of their songs in German, which is another reason not to leave (if) as a blind spot in my mind. When it comes to singing Hates is the last one to let us down, which actually could go without saying, but I should say a few positive things...shouldn't I?

Tracks to hear: "Requiem", "Wahn!sinn?", "Choir Hotel", "Momentum" and "The Saint"

Personal rating: 5 out of 10