Again pushing the far reaches of the darkened melancholy periphery, _The Acoustic Verses_ taps into the expected unpredictability with ever increasing proficiency. Those too quick to criticize this effort will inevitably reveal either a lack of patience to explore the unexploited complexity of _TAV_ or, much worse yet, transparent ignorance.

Ranking as one of the shorter cuts from the album, "Alone", track four, the song waists no time at all endearing itself to the listener. In fact, clocking in at three minutes and forty-three seconds, "Alone" during this time exemplifies the very essence of GC musically; lyrically, the inspiration draws from the Edgar Allan Poe poem of the same name. As previously mentioned, improving the content found on _Light of Day, Day of Darkness_ would be a tough nut to crack -- after all, the album found its inspiration in the birth of Tchort's son. If pressured, however, the message throughout the last track from the effort, "High Tide Waves", completes the package in a consummate Green Carnation manner. The song had nearly eight minutes to accomplish this, as well, and was worth every second.

Undeniably Green Carnation is band, but also a study in the practice where understanding avoids definition. That kind of enigma places Green Carnation crossing the Rubicon for the benefit of every open-minded listener. Up to the challenge?