Demo Cds are always a hard thing to review, mainly because they’re not the finished product. I received a demo To Embrace the Light (the second demo release) from the one man band, Subject to Thoughts a.k.a. Mark Mendieta in the mail and took a listen. My first impression was lackluster and I put it aside until now. The music combined elements of gothic rock with some small hints of progressive metal. Mark claims his influences come from bands like Dream Theater, Opeth, Katatonia and My Dying Bride. I can’t comment on the last two since I never heard them but the first two give a small idea of the music even though lacking the power and intensity.
To Embrace the Light has the potential to be something big but being a demo, it lacks strength even in the somber vibe The vocals are less than noteworthy. I do believe the compositions are the strong point over all. Maybe if Mark assembled a band with a vocalist, the music will be good enough to be a full release.
Unless he does a better production on any future releases, I fear his music won’t see the light of day outside small circles. I will however will keep an eye out for more stuff, hopefully he’ll improve and show more strengths next demo, or better yet a debut!
Reviewed by Ron Fuchs on February 28th, 2007
