Lord Of The Lost
OPVS NOIR Vol. 1
The compelling gloom of Lord Of The Lost’s dark sound returns in an offering of dramatic grandeur, gothic metal and shadowy intent. OPVS NOIR Vol. 1 marks the first of a tripart series of releases and is the first studio album released from the band as a six-piece.
With a flair for the theatrical, Lord Of The Lost make a grand entrance with the symphonic power of Bazaar Bizarre. The intensity of the introduction quickly dissipates into an intimate moody verse. Eerie piano notes enhance the atmosphere while Chris Harms’ commanding seductive vocals entice. The thundering heaviness of this opening track is explosive; it’s an obliterating display of power. With OPVS NOIR Vol. 1, Lord Of The Lost have included an extensive array of guests across the tracklist. Light Can Only Shine In The Darkness with Within Temptation is an emotive and uplifting collaboration. Sharon Den Adel’s instantly recognisable vocal contrasts the distinctive character of Harms’ resulting in a captivating effect. Moonstruck, featuring a capella group Stimmgewalt, presents a darkly enchanting delight with drama from orchestral and organ layers.
No genre or style influence is off limits for Lord Of The Lost who embrace numerous elements often aligning aptly with their chosen guest. The band is joined by Deathstars’ Whiplasher Bernadotte for a full throttle industrial exhibition in Damage, while renowned cellist Tina Guo presents both an ethereal accompaniment and fierce vigour in Ghosts. The track segues between haunting moments and thrashing intense speed. One of the most stylistically diverse songs on OPVS NOIR Vol. 1 is The Things We Do For Love. A seemingly calm atmospheric introduction soon gives way to an electronic build up and lands in a ferocious assault of heavy instrumentation and synth textures. This is all before finding its way to an anthemic chorus. Chaos, transcending energy and wildness flows through the song in a manner that is unpredictable and untameable. Dreams Are Never Alone is a ghostly finale. Powerful bass tones ground the track while orchestral strings and soaring vocals carry the shadowy ballad into higher realms.
OPVS NOIR Vol. 1 is a high charismatic and enthralling addition to Lord Of The Lost discography. Not only showcasing the act’s continually expanding and diversifying sound—that remains perfectly within their identity—but also celebrating a plethora of dynamic musicians and artists. It’s truly thrilling, and the best part is it’s only part one.
For fans of: Beyond The Black, Deathstars, Mono Inc.
‘OPVS NOIR Vol. 1’ by Lord Of The Lost is out now on Napalm Records.
PLAIINS
Happy Faces
It’s fortunate that PLAIINS have a British singer. Anything different and the likelihood is they wouldn’t work as well. That’s not to say it’s impossible for non-British bands to adopt the snark and ennui that our fair isle most traffics in, but, y’know…it helps. In the case of PLAIINS, they’re ostensibly German, but you’d think this was an act who’d been rubbing shoulders with IDLES or Kid Kapichi since musical conception. Maybe Chris Reardon himself has, but again, it’s not a commodity as heavily concentrated on the mainland. It’s always been something that PLAIINS have taken to well, though, and their best go at it yet coming on their full-length debut is great to see.
Of course, for someone more well-versed in where PLAIINS are coming from, the element of familiarity is utterly blinding throughout. The specific angle of snappish social commentary on Amazon Warehouse; the sprechgesang irritability of Do One; the normal-man scene-setting of Sports Bar; you could throw a dart at most of this style’s established canon and land on one of these three. It’s par for the course and something that PLAIINS could try to step past, but don’t necessarily have to. They’re still good at pulling it off, with Reardon nailing every cadence and jaw-snap required on a fairly regular basis. Of the 13 tracks on Happy Faces, it’s hard to say that a single one doesn’t have a rock-solid idea of what it’s doing.
Musically, too, there’s a similar knowledge of the source material at play. It’s not as manic as IDLES or steel-tipped as Kid Kapichi, but PLAIINS have settled on a medium of post-punk that’s perfectly robust nonetheless. What’s more, all the usual swerves are present and accounted for, like the Britpop-adjacent jangle of Executive Me or the bricked-out strut of C’est La Vie. In representing the wider stylistic cross-section in a way that shows there is some variety, again, it’s all generally strong stuff. On the flip side, parlaying that into more consistent momentum would be handy; as far as a captive listening experience goes, things do peter out towards the very end. Not in an exceptionally damaging way, though, as PLAIINS continue to brandish a baseline of understanding that rarely falters.
Honestly, Happy Faces is one of those albums that lives and dies by its solidness, to where there’s not a great deal more to say outside of that. PLAIINS have worked and grafted to embody their scene well, and it’s obviously paid off. Having a little more of themselves coming through would be nice, but off the back of Happy Faces, you can easily predict a career with ample time to focus on that. This is kind of huge next step to get them there.
For fans of: Kid Kapichi, Soft Play, Bad Nerves
‘Happy Faces’ by PLAIINS is released on 15th August on Long Branch Records.
Surfaced
Where Angels Fear To Tread
Not to be confused with Surfaces, that horrible, plastic pop duo that sound like bleach in humanoid form. Surfaced couldn’t be further from that. Here’s another group of metalcore upstarts with deep roots in 2000s death metal and deathcore, with a smidge of hardcore sensibility for good measure. Obviously, then, they’re another punishing name in a segment of heavy music that’s hardly starved for it. Perhaps that could work against them for the sheer volume of competition; perhaps they could roll with the punches and clobber their way through a brief EP regardless.
Admittedly, Where Angels Fear To Tread isn’t quite on the level of past targeted napalm strikes. Surfaced are clutching to their heavy brew without necessarily expanding on it, or pushing it to such a level that it’s impossible to miss. On some, it is just ‘another one of these’. At least there’s Buried In, an industrial interlude reliant on its snarling, clanging breakbeats for the greatest morsel of variety. It’d be nice if it paid off elsewhere now instead of potentially down the line (and if it didn’t feel like territory that Graphic Nature have sat undisturbed atop since the start), but it’s something. Between that and a sample from Elf of all things on their past release Nothingness Forever, the drip-feeding of Surfaced’s personality is in motion.
On the other side of things, if you’re not too bothered about brand-newness in your metalcore (which, if you’re actively seeking out another one of these, is probably the case), Surfaced prove strong enough at delivering that. It’s naturally heavy and low-hanging EP, and on A Petal Of Ash, has the right ratio of discord to upside-the-head bluntness. Additionally, it’s coated in the deep, dark grime that’s almost industry standard for releases like this now. From it, Surfaced zero in on an even more no-frills form of brutality, which always seems to work for them. Even if the boat isn’t being pushed even remotely—if anything, it’s securely tied up in the harbour—it’s still afloat.
Granted, that mightn’t be the most sustainable position to remain in, should Surfaced wish to do more than just…well, surface. Where Angels Fear To Tread is a good starting block, though arguably no more or less than Nothingness Forever was before it. And when likeminded bruisers are taking the same raw materials, embracing them full-tilt, and yielding a better end result, Surfaced just seem a little outclassed. Saying that, the metalcore fiends aren’t liable to complain either way, and Where Angels Fear To Tread is never so well-worn that it outstays its welcome. Approach by preference, then.
For fans of: Jesus Piece, Xibalba, End It All
‘Where Angels Fear To Tread’ by Surfaced is released on 15th August on 1126 Records.
Words by Holly Royle (HR) and Luke Nuttall (LN)
