Before the Fire - Deep and sull of tension, waiting for something to happen. Fab orchestration, brilliant when they did it live.

Return (Coming Home) - Upbeat, dancy, fresh and the violin is just fantastic! This was also a brilliant track live and nothing is lost in the recording!

Binary - A bit more industrial-ish than before now, again, dancable, (I'll be saying this a lot), catchy tunes and riffs, more brilliant violin in the middle, with a fantastically panned spoken vocal.

The Seraphs - One of my faveourites, lyrically. Another brilliant beat, with fab contrasting violin and sound fx. Really like the synth on this track.

Spectators - My faveourite track on the album. It feels very deep, and melancholy (if you get what i mean there). Again, lyrically, its brilliant. Slower than previous tracks on the album, the sort of track you can sit down to and be mellow. Brilliant vocal work.

Tears - Again, this was brilliant live. Another bouncy dance track, more good synth. More catchy tunes. Can't help but move to this.

Go Away - Another slower track. Very deep and sad, beutifully put together. The FX are good and not over used. More beutiful lyrics on this track "Forever seems like just an empty promise."

The 4th Phase - More upbeat, nice violin work. Heavy, thudding bass keeps it moving.

Earthfall - Heavy, industrial beat and sfx. Another danceable track. Less vocals than other tracks, but it doesn't really need them.

Orphean Wing - More catchy tunes, and another great beat. I feel its a little different to the other tracks on the album, but still a brilliant peice.

Carnival - I LOVE THIS! Its kooky and twisted and brilliantly put together. The use of both male and female vocals is brilliant and the tune it has is fantastic! A short track, but effective. The lyrics are brilliant! A really enjoyable track!

Resist - A heavy, upbeat track, very home hitting with a message in the lyrics to match. Fantastic sampling, can't help but move to and be moved by this track. Another little catchy riff.

Roman - So deep and moving, its almost tearful. Digs into belief and such, and again another short track. Wonderfully put together, fantastic sound. Beutiful spoken and sung lyrics. Almost etherel.

Spiral (Don't Fall) - A good end to a brilliant album. Really closes the album well. More fantastic synth work and fx, with another good beat. Beutiful overlapped vocals.

Overall, this album is a MUST for anyone whos EVER heard of the Cruxshadows.

Good stuff, very Cure-ish with accents of techno and Nine Inch Nails. I met the lead singer in an Apple store in Buffalo, New York and he is a very nice guy. Listened to some of their music, and had to buy the album. Check out their website ( www.cruxshadows.com ) for more info and pictures of the band.

Wishfire is an incredible acheivement in "gothic" music, so who cares if it doesn't fit into someone else's narrow definition of what "gothic" should sound like?

This music is gothic not because of a specific beat, but because of the subject matter, and the spirit behind it. Gothic isn't just about a certain musical sound, but rather about a diverse historical movement in arts, literature, fashion, etc. And in that way, The Cruxshadows definately deserve to be included in that movement.

As for the music, if you're interested in "old school" goth, you should keep in mind that at the beginning of the gothic movement there wasn't a set sound or definition for the music of the scene. Goth evolved out of a number of styles, and it's still evolving! The Cruxshadows are at the head of an evolution, but that doesn't mean that there's anything wrong with them. They are above and beyond what other bands in the scene are able to grasp, which makes them superior, not inferior.

I love "Telemetry of a Fallen Angel", and I love the sound and content of what they were doing back then. But the main reason that "Telemetry" doesn't sound like their current CDs is because they didn't have the technical ability to create the Wall of Sound that you will find on Wishfire or Ethernaut.

If you take Wishfire on its own terms, and don't try to force it into some backwater genre mass, then you will find that it well worth your time! It is intelligent and insightful, and above and beyond other CDs. This isn't just for a certain cliche group of listeners, it is for all listeners, of all walks of life, because truly great art is always universal rather than caught in a momentary irrelevant fad.

I highly recommend "Wishfire" to fans of any of The Cruxshadows other CDs, as well as to anyone with an appreciation for honestly good music and lyrics of ANY genre.

If anyone has read my review on the Tears cd I hinted that there might be a new direction on the latest Cruxshadows disc and I was correct. The disc isnt as accessable as some of thier others but it has no filler tracks as with other full length releases by CXS. The tracks on Wishfire are all solid and dancable with a few varied exeptions. This disc might not be the best cd for a new Cruxshadows fan to start with (I would recomend Paradox Adendem to start with and if not then go with Wishfire but remember the others arent as electronic sounding as Wishfire) Then I would go with Mystery of the whisper.Wishfire has more violins then ever before & another welcome is Stacey's guitars has been made a bit more pronounced.It really adds something that some of the other discs were missing. Here is the songs for Wishfire

1.Before the fire - A nice opening,more musical & concise with the feeling of the cd.Kind of Pink Floyd'ish till the female vocals start speaking then leads directly into...

2.Return (coming home) - This is in my top 5 CXS songs that they have ever done. The violin is so pronounced here that its impossible to ignore. The music flows wonderfully against a steady electro beat.The guitar is really noticed here. Also one of the biggest highlights of the bands live set on the Wishfire tour.

11.Carnival - This track is SO ODD & COOL! A short song at 1:50 with Stacey & Rogue singing a duet. Very electronic and upbeat.

When I first heard "Wishfire", I wasn't sure what I had been given, but I quickly grew attached to it. Songs like "Tears", "Binary", "Return/Coming Home", and "Resist" were so much fun, while "Go Away" and "Orphean Wing" were so melancholy and deep... I recommend this cd to anyone with a love for gothic/ebm/darkwave music and an open mind. It deserves *10* stars!