'Dancing Under Glass'
Reviews

Aardshock Magazine - 87%
Unfortunately, the review was in Dutch, so we couldn’t translate it. I’m sure it said nice things though.

Kerrang! Magazine - KKK - "Review" (cough) by Liam Shiels
I would print the review, but the guy obviously hadn’t listened to it, and said some things that were so wrong it was unbelievable (‘Gargling-like-a frog vocals’ and ‘fire-and-brimstone’ lyrics being two examples. I mean just read them ferchristsakes) Laugh? I nearly started.

Terrorizer Magazine - ***1/2 Review by Gregory Whalen
"It’s great to see Earache get behind some real home-grown Metal talent again after all these years, even if cynics may argue that by signing a band like Entwined they are merely trying to get their own piece of the Gothic metal action. ‘Dancing Under Glass’ will certainly go down well on the continent, but the Colchester troupe have far more going for them than the average Krautgoth outfit these days. For a start, as their live performances have shown, there is a solid emphasis on the Metal side of their persona. There’s none of this brooding melancholic poets crap here: Entwined know how to rip it up, and the balls and bravado of their live show have survived the transition to vinyl (well, CD anyway - Steve) remarkably well. There are few quiet moments to be heard on this album, nor are there a great deal of atmospheric passages in the traditional sense, i.e. wimpy parts. The large majority of the material rages from beginning to end, Stephen and Lee’s guitars charging forth like those of their mentors Dave Murray and Adrian Smith. As a matter of fact, there is a lot of Iron Maiden in Entwined. Perhaps one could liken ‘Dancing Under Glass’ to a heavier, more nineties version of ‘Seventh Son of a Seventh Son’, with the odd reference to ‘Tales from the Thousand Lakes’-era Amorphis.
Mark Royce and his keyboards are seemingly omnipresent, but unlike most keyboard players he is not merely content to play follow-the-leader with the guitars. The synthetic strings and piano sounds he drags out of his black box of tricks dance all over the place, lending the material depth and dynamics. The Simon Efemey production also does the band a lot of favours in that respect, and ‘Dancing Under Glass’ sounds almost as polished and professional as ‘Draconian Times’, even though it was recorded in a fraction of the time. Entwined have quite a way to go before they can write songs as well as Paradise Lost can, and Stephen’s vocals could perhaps be stronger, but in the long run I think we could well be looking at the new ambassadors of British Heavy Metal here."

METAL HAMMER - 6/10 - Review by Dave Ling
"Entwined are a gothic metal band with romantic visions, and ‘Dancing Under Glass’ is their debut album. It’s full of colourful, lengthy instrumental workouts and ‘olde worlde’ charm, and built upon the foundations of Lee James and Steve Tovey’s taught, muscular guitars and the dancing, ethereal keyboards of Mark Royce.
The variables that will enable Entwined to stand or fall are Tovey’s delivery and the quality of their songs. Material-wise, there’s nothing to fear. Despite a tendency to sound like mid-period Paradise Lost (a comparison encouraged by the use of PL producer Simon Efemey), ‘Red Winter’ and ‘The Sacrifice of Spring’ feature great riffs and offer variety.
However, some may find Tovey’s vocals irritating (surely not - Steve). Occupying the no man’s land between grunting and actual singing, he veers towards the latter, occasionally sounding off key on ‘Shed Nightward Beauty’ ad ‘Heaven Rise’. A good start, nonetheless.