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Loch Vostok - Destruction Time Again
Release: 2006Label: [link]Escapi Music[/link]
By: Anders
Posted: May 20, 2006
The Swedish band Loch Vostok is quite a mouthful, this is the band's second album and my first encounter with them, but damn a rollercoaster ride one is up to, when play has been pushed. The band is referring to their music as "extreme progressive metal" and that description is indeed very fitting. Always and again is the musical path shifting, the only thing that remains the same throughout the songs, is the overall atmosphere. Hence it takes a great while to get the music under the skin, but when it gets there, it's stuck!
Loch Vostok has its base in progressive metal, and spices it up with technical jazzy death metal, aggressive black metal inspired pieces, more straight power metal parts and sheer brutality and extraordinary skills with the instruments. All in the band know how to handle their instrument to perfection, just from the great main riffs, to the great leads and solos, to the flowing and insane drumming, which gets varied with everything from blast beats, thundering kick drums and amazing cymbal work and killer fills. To the heavy bass, keeping the always shifting rhythm, as it was the easiest thing in the world. To the great atmospheric and seldom overdone keyboards. The vocals are quite impressive as well, again a good deal of variation going on. All from a grim growl, to a tormented scream to a good palette of clean vocals, and surprisingly all of them works pretty well.
The members of the band are not only good musicians, they are great song writers as well. The way they forge the different musical styles together, adds a great deal of technically and still keep many hooks and a red thread throughout the songs, so the listener never gets lost in the jungle known as the 11 tracks on "Destruction Time Again" is amazing, that demands a lot of overview and flair. The many ideas the band implements into their wicked world works well too, many bands would have broken their neck trying what Loch Vostok does.
This is an album that takes a while to get into, but what a feast it then becomes. This is the wet dream of many fans of progressive and technical metal, there can't be many doubts about that. If you aren’t convinced by my above ramblings, go and give the album a listen, it's tough for me to pick out some fave tracks as the album, works really well in its wholesome, though start from the start with 'Humantix', then jump to 'Destruction Time Again' and then go a bit back to 'Jonestown Slumber Party' and then I'm pretty sure you'll be convinced! So far this has been the biggest surprise for me this year, and so far there has been some damn good albums released, but this takes the prize as the best, most interesting and for all, unique album so far!
Loch Vostok has its base in progressive metal, and spices it up with technical jazzy death metal, aggressive black metal inspired pieces, more straight power metal parts and sheer brutality and extraordinary skills with the instruments. All in the band know how to handle their instrument to perfection, just from the great main riffs, to the great leads and solos, to the flowing and insane drumming, which gets varied with everything from blast beats, thundering kick drums and amazing cymbal work and killer fills. To the heavy bass, keeping the always shifting rhythm, as it was the easiest thing in the world. To the great atmospheric and seldom overdone keyboards. The vocals are quite impressive as well, again a good deal of variation going on. All from a grim growl, to a tormented scream to a good palette of clean vocals, and surprisingly all of them works pretty well.
The members of the band are not only good musicians, they are great song writers as well. The way they forge the different musical styles together, adds a great deal of technically and still keep many hooks and a red thread throughout the songs, so the listener never gets lost in the jungle known as the 11 tracks on "Destruction Time Again" is amazing, that demands a lot of overview and flair. The many ideas the band implements into their wicked world works well too, many bands would have broken their neck trying what Loch Vostok does.
This is an album that takes a while to get into, but what a feast it then becomes. This is the wet dream of many fans of progressive and technical metal, there can't be many doubts about that. If you aren’t convinced by my above ramblings, go and give the album a listen, it's tough for me to pick out some fave tracks as the album, works really well in its wholesome, though start from the start with 'Humantix', then jump to 'Destruction Time Again' and then go a bit back to 'Jonestown Slumber Party' and then I'm pretty sure you'll be convinced! So far this has been the biggest surprise for me this year, and so far there has been some damn good albums released, but this takes the prize as the best, most interesting and for all, unique album so far!
Rating: 9½/10
[link]Loch Vostok[/link] website
Distributed in Denmark by Target and kindly supplied by Intromental
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