It would be generous to describe any of the material on the album as anything other than solid. The tone is perhaps indicative of a band struggling to find a musical identity after the loss of a key (and arguably defining) member of the band in van Giersbergen. Replacement Wergeland’s voice is perfectly fine, but it lacks the definition and character of her predecessor’s, which really seems to be a reflection of the album as a whole. The band’s objective with this album is both obvious and understandable; attempting to carry on in the same vein as previous material would be both unfair to new singer Wergeland and an artistic compromise for the band as a whole. However, there is little on ‘The West Pole’ that really grabs the listener’s attention. This is very much a slow burner of an album which takes a little while to really grasp. Not bad, but not overly interesting, either.