The Rasmus’ first album in half a decade is built on the back of the success of monster hit Jezebel but fails to reach the musical and inspirational heights of the Eurovision fan favourite. 

The opening track Live and Never Die begins interestingly with synths and an electronic piano before frontman Lauri Ylönen puts his stamp on it with his trademark crying vocals. As an album opener it works to welcome new fans of the band. The titular track Rise was released earlier this year to critical acclaim and sits among the best of the singles on the record. 

Fireflies is similar to Rise with its punchy guitar riffs but its chorus fails to live up to what the verse offers as a musical springboard. 

Odyssey acts as an interlude for the record at less than three minutes long. It features the same synths as the opening track; these sounds aren’t out of place on the album. 

Even objectively Jezebel is the shining star of the whole record. It’s polished, infectious and appeals to a wide range of audiences. Endless Horizon slows the pace down after the acceleration Jezebel produced which is a crying shame. The final three tracks probably fail to wrestle back much of the attention but Written in Blood is exciting enough to really deserve its place on the album. 

After the successful rebirth the band experienced competing in Eurovision for Finland this year, it’s slightly disappointing their new record is on the short side and doesn’t hit the heights across the board as well as Jezebel did as a single. That said, what was done well on the album was done incredibly well indeed.