If bands like Soilwork, Trivium, Unearth, All That Remains, As I Lay Dying, Atreyu, and Bleeding Through had relocated to Japan and changed their names, chances are they would sound something like Lost Eden on their album Cycle Repeats. This debut on Candlelight Records is billed as a melodic death/hardcore release, but in all actuality these Japanese upstarts are really throwing tired and cliched metalcore at the listener, as there's nothing here you haven't heard a million times before, and in most cases much better. Screaming vocals mixed with the occasional melodic clean passages, crushing guitar riffs, a smattering of keyboards, and brutal rhythms-sound familiar? Well it should, as it's the "theme formula" of a popular genre that is so flooded with bands all treading similar waters that it's hard for any new bands to come up with something fresh. While Lost Eden do a competent job here (tunes like "Forsaken Last" and "Before Burning to Ashes" are certainly memorable, heavy tunes with some nice atmosphere built in), there's just an overwhelming feeling of "been there, heard that" throughout Cycle Repeats that prevents any reason to want to come back to this CD more than a few spins, if that.
Track Listing
1. Seed
2. Squeeze
3. Equation 999
4. Forsaken Last
5. Time Damages Me
6. Sandglass
7. Black Report
8. Planetoid
9. Story and Reality
10. Before Burning to Ashes
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