Review: Lord Of The Lost – 'Empyrean'

LORD OF THE LOST
'Empyrean'
OUT OF LINE

Lord Of The Lost return with their most ambitious sonic undertaking to date. The dystopian concept album 'Empyrean' sees the German quintent push their sound further than ever before as they mix gothic metal, industrial rock, prog, glam and electro into a barrage of hard riffs, catchy melodies, sing-a-long choruses and deceptively dance friendly rhythms. 'Empyrean' looks like it may very well be the album that see's Lord Of The Lost hit their stride and break out of the shadow of acts such as Deathstars and Gothminister.

The album hits hard and fast with opening numbers 'Miss Machine', 'Drag Me To Hell', and 'The Love Of God' each producing a golden mix of riffs, melodies, and big choruses. The next couple of tracks pull back from the bombastic metal elements a bit more for the more subtle and electronic led 'Raining Stars' and 'In Silence'.

The rockier elements begin to grow more throughout the likes of 'Black Oxide', and 'Interstellar Wars'. But it isn't until 'Doomsday Disco', 'Death Penalty', and 'No Gods, No War' do we fully return to that big bombastic sound. It is then left to the final three tracks 'The Interplay Of Life And Death', 'Utopya', and 'Where Is All The Love' to once again pull things back before wrapping it up.

This is one of those surprising albums where there isn't really a bad track. The band move between the heavier and more involved prog sounds with ease. They can go from hard and angry to subtle and melancholic without missing a beat. And the tracks are a testament to how far they have come over the last ten years.

The only real criticism I can level at this record is that in the way the album is laid out there is a bit of a tendency to bunch together similar songs, which is fine from a narrative point of view, however it does affect the momentum of the album in the middle and towards the end.

Overall though the song writing is the best the band have produced thus far. And the production of the album is absolutely spot-on with a dynamic mix that brings out the big sound the band need to achieve.

'Empyrean' is an ambitious album, but Lord Of The Lost have pulled it off. They have in fact produced the strongest album of their career to date, and one that is going to take some beating. It is evident though that the band are ready to step up and become one of the shining lights of the European industrial metal scene.  

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