J-Man Ordinary Lives, the debut effort from Your Tomorrow Alone, is an absolutely exceptional listen if gloom and melancholy are what you crave from modern metal. This six-piece band from Italy takes the very best of gothic metal, doom metal, and progressive rock, and blends it into a style that focuses mainly on reflective songwriting and heavily atmospheric arrangements. Ordinary Lives shouldn't sound revolutionary for any expert in gothic metal, but Your Tomorrow Alone does manage to put enough of their own touches on the sound to make for an original and intriguing listen. The strong sense of melancholy and overall professionalism of this release makes it a highly recommended listen for fans of gothic metal on the more progressive and doomy end of the spectrum.

Your Tomorrow Alone is a tough band to completely pigeonhole, but it does seem like many of their influences come from the bleak atmospheres of bands like My Dying Bride, Opeth, Paradise Lost, and Anathema. The band's extensive use of ambient keyboards gives their music a bit of a 'spacey' feel at times, and overall this is a very progressive and diverse work of art. You should expect an abundance of death growls, melodic piano sections, tasteful guitar playing, and plenty of crushing riffs on Ordinary Lives, and although the band's heavily atmospheric sound may come across as rather 'typical' for most gothic/doom metal acts, the progressive sensibilities and frequent ventures into Opethian territory keeps Your Tomorrow Alone from ever sounding like a stereotypical act.

Ordinary Lives is also a very well-composed record, and although it will definitely take a few listens to 'sink in', the complex and multifaceted songwriting eventually reveals itself as beautiful and full of emotion. Your Tomorrow Alone has really hit a home run with this debut, and I have little doubt that fans of gothic metal, doom metal, progressive rock, and even melodic death metal will have a blast with this intense journey of melancholy and subtle beauty.