At heart, Anberlin have always been a great modern rock band. On Dark Is The Way, Light Is A Place, that much is still true. With this album, the band return to darker tones and the change in direction makes this a better album than their last, New Surrender. The main problem here, though, is that in going for a darker tone, Anberlin also left a lot of their previous energy at the studio door. That’s not to say that it isn’t a respectable offering. Stephen Christian’s voice is in fine form – particularly on “Take Me (As You Found Me),” a song straight from U2’s playbook. There, and at other times, Anberlin locate a rich vein of atmospheric melodrama, and they mine it for all it’s worth. Ultimately, this album won’t convince anyone not already in the thrall of serious, emotive rock music. But if Taking Back Sunday or Lostprophets are your idea of a good time, then it won’t disappoint either.