Sometimes foreshadowing is relatively obvious. If I was to open with, "Bloodred Hourglass are a band whose talent I've always admired, but when I heard their new release...," you'd probably work out the direction this review is going to go in. Indeed, the Finnish sextet does have a lot to work with, but when it comes to "How's The Heart?" it feels as though the tools at their disposal have been blunted. The band has stated that their sixth album is their most ambitious yet and in a way, it is, but the six-piece appears to have reached a bit too far this time around.

The album kicks off with "Of Course I Still Love You" and it doesn't take long to notice a problem with the song, which unfortunately remains throughout the album, namely the vocals. Jarkko Koukonen has always done a fine job before but on "How's The Heart?" he tries to do far too much, often in the same song and it rarely lands. Sometimes his singing feels totally out of place, such as "Song Of Forgotten," where Koukonen screams terribly over softer, more melodic music, while at other times, they're just plain bad, with the title track being an example.

Unfortunately, the songwriting in general is all over the place. Bloodred Hourglass has always been very talented, especially when it comes to guitars, but they can't seem to piece it together this time. Songs frequently jump from one area to another with little rhyme or reason and often will go on long enough for any goodwill to dry up before it ends. Fittingly, "Anomaly" is a confusing mess that doesn't seem to have any clue where it's going and is massively hindered by the aforementioned vocals.

It perhaps comes as no surprise that the performances of guitarists Lauri Silvonen, Joni Lahdenkauppi, and Eero Silvonen are the highlights of the album. Each guitar player puts in a great shift when it comes to their playing and they've crafted some excellent melodies for the record, which shine through on the opening song, as well as "In Lieu Of Flowers" and "Leina." Sadly, they don't save any of the tracks from falling into the traps they set for themselves and there's only so much one can shrug and say, "At least the guitars sound good" before feeling the urge to skip the song.

Overall, this feels like a colossal misfire from a band that has made some solid albums and excellent music in the past. It's patchy, confusing, and at times, almost unlistenable. There's definitely an audience for this album, but it's honestly difficult thinking of who it could be or who to recommend "How's The Heart?" to. Are scene kids still a thing? I guess they might like it. It's like a stew of metalcore, nu-metal, Dragonforce style playing, and deathcore obnoxiousness, but with none of the ingredients measured so ultimately, it's just hard to swallow.