Black Lotus Records have been very busy lately and apart from signing well known acts like Acheron and Thanatos they also focus strongly on releasing records from their own country Greece. This is sometimes a good thing (Astarte, Thou Art Lord and Nightfall) and sometimes a bad thing (Morning After). On Thorns I Lay’s latest output Egocentric, can easily be shared among the good releases in my humble opinion.

They play melodic rock with the occasional heavy intermezzo but most of the time the focus is on melody and atmosphere. It reminds me, to a certain extent, of Katatonia, Opeth and similar bands but also of A Perfect Circle and even Simon And Garfunkel. By now it should be clear that we’re not dealing with a brutal metal band but with gentlemen with a taste of good music, and the ability to produce quality compositions.

Unlike some other bands in this particular genre On Thorns I Lay doesn’t write songs that last 10 plus minutes. The average length is about 5 minutes, but in those 5 minutes they manage to create a full blooded song with a beginning, a middle and an end. The song structures are elaborate and the music is performed with great care (backed up with a perfect production). This album doesn’t bore for one minute, despite the fact that there are no real ups and downs in terms of change of pace and style.

Egocentric is not an album that attracts much attention after the first listening, the real quality of this record comes to surface after a few listening sessions. Those of you who will invest some of their time (and of course some money) in On Thorns I lay will be rewarded with a really good record.