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My first exposure to Connecticut's one-man "Horror Metal" band, Autumns Eyes, came via the EP Surrender the Fire, which I liked quite a bit. When the full-length Please Deceive Me showed up I was expecting more of the same Melodic Death Metal but what I got was a shift to a more Gothic Metal sound accompanied by an immense leap forward in songwriting and playing. Mastermind Dan Mitchell has crafted an album full of his trademark creepy atmospheres but now, courtesy of his clear vocal style, he also wraps you up in his disturbing tales of lost love ("Blood in the Woods"), addiction ("Please Deceive Me") and just plain horror ("Haunting Your Daughter:")

Musically diverse, Please Deceive Me is beautifully layered and complex, full of keys and choruses in some spots and strikingly simple in others. There are plenty of slower, orchestral passages ("Anxiety Spiders," "Red Wine and Resin") to go with the upbeat riffs of songs like "Ichabod" and "The Wooded Road." One can hear everything from King Diamond to Pink Floyd to Type O Negative swirling through the songs. Mitchell is clearly influenced by the work of the late Peter Steele and while Please Deceive Me captures the darkness of Type O Negative's music it is never plodding. The Pink Floyd influence is no more prevalent than on "So Close to Shadow" with its 70s-inspired bass and guitar solo worthy of David Gilmour.

Please Deceive Me will either jump right out of the speakers and grab you immediately, like it did to me, or you will need to give it some time but, rest assured, it will be time well spent. It blows away most of the Gothic Metal albums out there today. It isn't often I get to hear something different on my journey as a reviewer and when I do "different" usually equals "crap." Not so with Please Deceive Me from Autumns Eyes. You can color me highly impressed.