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Extreme progressive metal. Don’t we have enough genres? Guess
not, Swedish band Loch Vostok demands on their new album, Dark
Logic.
There
are some bands out there right now who mix death/hardcore and clean
vocals and try to make sense of them both. Atreyu is one of the
most popular bands doing this right now. Shadows Fall is along those
lines as well. But not too many bands have attempted to mix Dream
Theater’s technical prowess with barking.
The
question is, does it work?
To
be fair, Loch Vostok leans more towards the extreme side, than progressive,
at least with pure speed. But they mix in melodic keyboards, like
on the song “Impressions,” and make it work. In fact,
musically, they guys will impress you song after song. Lyrically,
they don’t just vomit out inane retreads of other’s
philosophies, and seem to truly care what the songs are about. In
“Impressions,” take the stanza, “he who has the
most things when he dies, wins. Money is the coolest thing in the
world. Buy your love and buy a life and buy a DVD.” Now, equating
“love and life” to a “DVD” is pretty dang
funny, and works on a few different levels.
Vocally,
though, you have to be flexible with what you feel a “good
singer” is. Vocalist (can’t really say singer) Teddy
Moller is an acquired taste. In fact, here’s a plain way of
saying it: Is he a good singer? No. Is he a cool singer? Hell yeah!
The
thing about progressive music, when you boil it down, is their ability
to play beautiful melodies in a technical manner. That’s why
many of them mix in classical pieces. Loch Vostok is asking you
to believe their music, but half of the time, put up with the vocals.
On
the song “Blunt Force Trauma,” Loch Vostok once again
shows that they can write a track with vast tempo-changing patterns,
and just do everything right. Except vocally. Lyrically, they paint
a vivid and poetic scene with lines like, “A blunt force trauma,
a loveless father’s way, pointing directions on the map of
death.”
When
Loch Vostok slows it down, like with “Marrow,” you have
to once again give the vocals a chance. Moller sings in an almost
syrupy, high yet thick voice, and suddenly, circus-like keyboards
jump in, and they sound like Faith No More on the pre-chorus. When
Moller finds the middle ground between his bark and smooth delivery
is when he’s at his best, and that’s why this is the
best song on the album. The bass playing here by Tomas Jonsson is
stellar as well. A weird song that is a summary of their overall
sound.
They
end Dark Logic with their most ear friendly song (during the verses
anyway), “Narcosis,” a song you wouldn’t expect
to be melodic in any way from the name. But Loch Vostok keeps surprising
you at every turn.
It
will take you a few listens to figure these guys out, and maybe
more than that. If you are in the mood for something about as different
as there is, give these guys a whirl. |
