Labyrinth is one of the few Italian melodic metal bands that are still relevant today. Their sophomore release Return To Heaven Denied swiftly became an example for bands to copy. Some excellent groups emerged from this hero worship, such as Secret Sphere. Too many other bands trying to be Labyrinth ended up killing the scene in that small country with their limp, frustrated attempts that spawned horrible cliché ridden music. Labyrinth, while never truly breaking big in the metal community, are a huge influence on dozens of groups and are given the respect that bands like Blind Guardian receive.

Since the landmark Return was released in 1997 Labyrinth have evolved their sound on more than one occasion and are now far removed from what made them known. Once co-founder Olaf Thorsen left to form Vision Divine they have turned down the speed, upped the diverse almost progressive moments, and have given the songs a more “mature” feel. Obviously this created a division amongst fans and I apparently was one of the few people who really liked the last release Freeman. That album while lacking speed, really had strong songwriting and the melodies used throughout were spectacular. 6 Days To Nowhere ends up sounding like the b-sides from those sessions. This is also the softest sounding album that Labyrinth have released. Even the production job enhances this, when the guitars are supposed to sound heavy they just don’t cut it. The vocals on the other hand are terrific. Since the album has many slow parts where the emphasis is on the singing, Rob Tiranti really shines. The first half of 6 Days To Nowhere contains the strongest material. Lost shows the band really going out and experimenting. Clean acoustic guitars, flamenco sections, growls, and blast beats are shoved into this one and the result is an interesting listen. Mother Earth has a great guitar solo that rocks through a long slow passage before continuing on when it gets “heavy.” Seven songs in and there's a cover of The Beatles' Come Together which pretty much this throws a wrench into the flow of the cd.

While Crossroads and There Is A Way are complete songs that are deserving of the Labyrinth seal of approval the rest of 6 Days To Nowhere sputters around with a couple of cool moments popping up here and there. Rusty Nail is the worst offender with uninspired guitar riffs and a terrible, blundering chorus with atrocious layering effects. Too bad it wasn’t an X - Japan cover, that almost would be cool by default. At the very end, the last track we come to is another cover song but this time it's done right. They’ve gone and re-recorded their very first song that got released way back in 1995, Piece Of Time and is fucking awesome and almost overshadows the original. The guitars don’t sound like they're set on “wuss” anymore, Rob sings his heart out and the solo makes me want to air guitar. I was getting scared when this track was coming by as I was listening through the first time. I almost believed because the last few songs were so bad that they were going to ruin a classic. Hearing this at the end through does show how far the band has evolved their sound. When putting this song next to the others on 6 Days To Nowhere I wonder what it is that Labyrinth are thinking that’s causing them to release bland rehashes like Wolves N Lambs when proof of their ability to kick ass is right in their faces.

6 Days To Nowhere is simply a boring cd to listen to. We’ve heard them be soft and reflective with Freeman and it was nice. Now we want something else. Whether it's spending more time listening to the new Piece Of Time or Freeman to find out where to go next, Labyrinth are going to have to change gears because 6 Days To Nowhere just stalled out their discography.