After 5 seconds of music I thought : Clayman !! And that's what it is, an almost replica of In Flames masterpiece. Of course there are differences, for one the singer sings more aggressively than the vocals contained in In Flames (at least Clayman), more like In Flames old records, but one thing is sure : In Flames must have been their strongest influence.

Now originality wise the album is not really worth that much, it's smells Clayman all over the place, and the production is a bit light compared to the "original". But there's something with this release, I don't know what, that makes me like it a lot. I don't categorized them as copycat and I think it wouldn't be fair, as they play with brio and have some pretty wicked song like : Perished, Embodiment, Serenity Of a Departed Soul or the excellent concluding song In The Absence Of Life. The album have a medium production and I believe that with a better one, it could rival with the best of the genre. For the moment I think that the singer is a bit too aggressive (except on As Life And Death Collide where he uses both aggressive and clear vocals). I think the band would be more easily digested by the listener if they would mix more clear vocals with aggressive ones (who said Clayman again ??). Only little complain : the album is a bit too short.

Although not original, Divine Souls have made a really cool debut album, maybe too inspired from Clayman but beside that detail I must admit that I'm really addicted by some of their riffs and melodies. An excellent debut album for all fans of Melodic Death Metal.