Lâmina
Lilith
(Raging Planet)
Rarely do I like to split a review in two, but Lilith begs and pleads for such.
On one hand, the seven-track collection is riddled with crushing riffs and a devastatingly satisfying brand of thrash metal, but on the other, specifically on the 20-minute track, “Maze” it’s glowering, doom ridden masterwork that is without peer.
I don’t want to paint anything on Lilith as ordinary, but I have heard a host of recent songs like the upbeat, roadhouse rocker, “Psychodevil” or the bone rattling bass introduction on “Cold Blood” the dark opener. On at least five of the track, Lâmina reminds me of how much fun heavy music should be, and moreover, it’s potential for delivering catharsis. The band is technically strong, their songwriting full of entertaining moves, and they convey a type of unhinged energy that can be sorely missing among their contemporaries. For lyrics that are mostly audible and comprehensible, these are fairly creative and rarely intrusive. You can sing along and really feel that they’re serious, but the concept doesn’t add up to added weight. As a thrash band, Lâmina is more than competent, contemporary influences like Red Fang.
Where I’d cut the review into two is on the aforementioned, “Maze” a shot of experimental doom that is worth your checking out all on its own. The Portuguese band (on the highly explorable Lisbon based label, Raging Planet) crams a lot of bleak atmosphere shrouded in spectral nuance, building a blank eyed monument to soul wrenching guitars, only to tear it down into a sprawling, speedy mess. Lâmina feels like they’ve heard their share of epic tracks that take their sweet – sometimes indulgent – time building and cascading down and wanted theirs to be different. Most of the span is instrumental, eschewing lyrics for expression by riff and thundercloud drums and “Maze” ends in a throng of sweaty riffs, hardly slowing until the last twenty seconds.
Lilith is definitely a record worth exploring, but even if that prospect of bone rattling thrash is not inviting, check it out on the merits of “Maze” alone.
