If only we hadn't been familiarized with the precepts long before. I don't know what it is about this style of metal that almost discourages innovation and rising above formulae, but once you get past the depressing unoriginality of it all, this isn't really all that bad. You've got the generic whisper-to-a-scream vocals with the plodding bass line laying the groove during the verses, with the guitars loudly announcing their arrival during the chorus, and of course the forlorn piano lending "beauty" to an otherwise "dark" song, this repeated one song after another -- but there are some decent melodies, most notably on "Sleeping Beauty" and "Alone". Elsewhere it's pretty much same old, same old, and truthfully -- I know they pride themselves on it -- but that piano has got to be the most monotonous thing about the whole album; it seems to be playing some minor variation on the same motif each and every song.