It's been 18 years since Lestat's last album, and the time away has made the band more accessible. Or maybe the rest of the world has finally caught up with their dark industrial sounds. Either way, some things remain the same: The group still samples dialogue from old movies, which adds a haunting quality to songs like "Long Since Forgotten." Eerie keyboards drive many of the tracks, as the band — original members mixed with a couple of newcomers – solidly builds around them. Arisen's weakest link is frontman Evan Nave, whose flat vocals sound even more impersonal than usual for a genre that prides itself on such things. Still, there's enough gothic goodness crammed into "Them" and "Awake and Watching" to make this a most welcome return. — Ben Gifford
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