Spiritual Bats -- Sacrament -- Label: Alchemisti Music -- [Last Sigh Magazine]

As the band name and album title could imply, "Sacrament" from Spiritual Bats is a gothic rock release. With foundations rooted in beat rather than atmosphere, however, this leans more heavily to the rock genre. Based out of Italy (which explains the deviance from general formulaic gothic tunes), Spiritual Bats are a 5 piece group. Drum beats and the crunchy guitar suggest an approach akin to metal, but the light keyboard textures and drone bass guitar compliment the gothic vocals to provide a counter-point to the frenzy. Textures and instrument treatments reinforce the notion that the band is rooted in the metal arena.
Why have I beaten that point into the ground, oh you, the glorious reader may ask? Here's why: that makes this INTERESTING. Interesting is good. There is a distinct flavor to this 5 song EP. The vocals almost hamper the music at times, a bit dull and grainy, but this seems to be intended in a gothic sense. A nice evolution away from the Cleopatra-esque goth rock.