This is the third demo released by this band from Finland with hope that someone will finally pay attention and sign them to a much-deserved recording contract. Formed in 2001, Misery Inc. originally set out to create music without any traditional lead guitar. Not happy with the results, the band recruited a lead guitar player and set out to create their sound. The first demo Chains (reviewed here at Metal Reviews) got quite a good response from the metal press. The second demo, For Your Misery Only was again well received but still didn't attract label interest. This release, Suicide Serenade sees the band turning it up a notch and delivering their strongest effort to date.

The music is a mix of dark and heavy riffs with strong melodies and really can be summed up in a word...Sentenced. It almost seems that this band had that particular sound in mind when doing this release as the influences from that band permeate almost every song. Lots of chunky heavy riffs are used in a more aggressive Power Metal / Thrash Metal style with the lead vocalist sounding like a mix of James Hetfield (Metallica), Warrell Dane (Nevermore) and Dirk Thurisch (Angel Dust). The music is both heavy and angry but with a great melodic sense and lots of lead guitar fills to enrich the sound. Each track has a very catchy chorus and the songwriting style is very good. Some more atmospheric passages are found throughout that are an eerie mix of Queensryche and Alice In Chains styles. More dramatic and gut wrenching vocals on a couple of tracks really show the Nevermore influence. Some piano and keyboards are used but only sparingly and for the most part, the lead singer manages to hide the Finnish accent (except for the intro to Hated).

Overall, a very solid band and one that was a real pleasure to listen to. They mix in styles from many of the aforementioned bands but manage to come up with a great sound and have produced some fine songs on this release. I found many of the tracks to be very memorable and instantly stuck with you even after the first listen. The band mixes up styles and tempos and no two tracks really sound the same. If you're into the metal styles of bands like Metallica, Sentenced, Nevermore, Angel Dust and Evergrey, this band is well worth checking out. This demo may be hard to locate but check out the band's website. This is a fantastic demo and is the best one that I've reviewed so far. I think it's even one of the better ones that we've been sent here at Metal Reviews. Well done guys, you've done your job, now let's see the music industry do theirs and sign these guys!!!