The relatively new outfit that is We Sell the Dead comprises members from such renowned and cool acts as Spiritual Beggars, Firewind, HIM, and In Flames. Fortunately, We Sell the Dead sounds like none of the ones just mentioned and this 9-track effort entitled "Heaven Doesn’t Want You and Hell is Full" is something else entirely.

Album opener "Echoes of an Ugly Past" as well as "Trust" and "Pale and Perfect" are majestic and utterly moody pieces while "Leave Me Alone" and "Imagine" are slightly more upbeat and in-your-face. We are talking dynamic and diverse tunes here, folks. Some cuts (such as the aforementioned "Trust", just to list one example) are rather dense yet never complex and although there is plenty of drama and a sense of the carnivalesque to the entire affair, this is anything but cheesy or lame. Songs such as "Turn It Over" and "Too Cold to Touch" actually bring to mind old London gaslights, foggy alleys, and foul deeds conducted by madmen. They could have taken the whole Victorian London occultism-thing even further and elaborated on it, but then again; whatever it is that these guys have stumbled on clearly works, so why the fuck am I complaining?

It is quite difficult to pinpoint or put into words what it is that makes these guys special, but there is something eclectic and strangely original about the way in which they weave different elements and traits together to such great effect. There are parallels and references to the Dio-fronted masterpieces by Black Sabbath that are "Heaven and Hell" and "Mob Rules" in places as well as subtle nods and winks to Candlemass, but on top of that you get all these goth rock parts and sections (think The Cure, Bauhaus, and similar bands) and the fact is that this peculiar mixture of influences and inspirations works like a charm. The tunes are given an extra boost by the powerful and hard-hitting production and it goes without saying that the musicianship is top-notch.

If you are on the lookout for gloom and doom but with a sense of coolness and wicked charm to it, look no further than this highly entertaining, memorable, and wonderfully macabre opus. If Jack the Ripper was on the lookout for a band to join, these sinister fuckers would be it.