Spoiler alert: this review will contain lots of references to Evanescence and Lacuna Coil. On their debut album, "8 Degrees Below", Oncethesun offer 8 hard-rock-radio-friendly tunes, replete with keyboards, percussive rhythm guitars, and female lead vocals accompanied by alternatingly harsh/melodic male vocals. This template, in addition to overt sex appeal, paid off handsomely in major mainstream success for bands like Evanescence and Lacuna Coil, so the formula could even work for these guys. Anna Bohn's voice doesn't hit the soaring heights that Amy Lee and Christina Scabbia are known for, and - judging by the album art - she seems to keep her sexuality more buttoned-up than those two, but this band still has the potential to earn some radio play. The strong tunes are only a few on this record, but they're there. Nothing as *sure shot* as Evanescence's breakout, "Bring Me To Life", but still, some nice moments. Bohn's understated approach works beautifully on the album's opener, ‘The Day You Said Goodbye’ and again on the ominous, powerful, ‘Inevitable’.

Things I'd like to see improved on the next album: The lead guitar sound needs work, the vocal harmonies need tightening (sometimes good, sometimes not), and there needs to be an attention-grabber. I don't mean a single, just a song that demands you stop what you're doing and listen.

In summary: this album isn't bad. If you dig radio metal, especially Evanescence and Lacuna Coil, then I recommend you check out Oncethesun.