Beginning with thrash metal as Vengeance Rising, moving to heavy metal with a self-titled debut, Die Happy has finally found its best sound on Volume II as a classic rock band. With influences ranging from Sabbath to Zeppelin, Volume II marks the first worthwhile album Die Happy has recorded. The album boasts emotion, melody, and style, which the previous release lacked. The emotional element of the album partially emerges from the content of many of the songs. For example, Tear Gallery stems from Doug Theimes's own struggles of watching his brother die of cancer. Further adding to the emotion of the songs are the passionate vocals of former Jaguar vocalist Robin Kyle. On the previous album, Robin was merely hired to lay down the vocals. Now, after becoming a permanent member of Die Happy, Robin participated in the songwriting, providing him with lyrics tailored to his particular style of vocals and lyrics which come more from his heart than from a sheet of paper he sees only days before recording. The great sense of melody found on this new album makes many of the songs extremely catchy and distinct. Songs such as Justified and Eden have choruses that become locked within the listener's mind even after the song has ended. However, the album is not the kind of melody-driven album which grabs the listener quick and strong but becomes far less appealing soon afterwards. Volume II is the kind of album which requires some time to grow into, but less time to grow out of. Volume II also features the addition of Die Happy's new bassist Greg Chaisson, formerly of the mainstream group Badlands, which features Ozzy's former guitarist Jake E. Lee. Greg's experience working with professional bands has not doubt significantly impacted the success of Die Happy's new sound. The song Cole's Atomic Funk Thang was written by Greg entirely on the bass guitar. The name for the song comes from Greg's son Cole, whom Greg once saw dancing to the song while Greg was playing it. Considering their previous album had two number one songs on the Pure Rock Charts, Volume II, and extremely superior release, should do far better. If you live in a place that has Christian metal radio, be prepared to hear a great deal of Die Happy.