Review Summary: Spread my wings to flee your suffering, who’s smiling now…
Anyone familiar with Lo! at this point should have some idea what to expect from the Australian metal vets, pummeling drums, thick meaty bass lines and lots of rampaging riffs. It follows along the lines of how intense The Ocean’s
Aeolian felt but with added softer interludes. The slower moments on this album are spaced out just far enough so that it’s not absolutely pummeling throughout the duration. Some short breaks are provided in the form of "Bombardier" and the opener "Hall of Extinct Mammals" with the prior using a somber recorded correspondence describing the obliteration and grotesque beauty from the London Blitz bombings during WW2. Much of the album references human destruction of the planet and living beings. Another slower track "Bestial Beginnings" starts calmly with a guitar line mired in delay backed by a simple drum beat setting an almost paranoid atmosphere before building but never quite reaching the explosive pace of earlier songs demonstrating Lo! don’t need to destroy your eardrums every time.
In spite of this the majority of material found here is fast paced and heavy. "Glutton" was the first song released, it opens with a pounding riff and vocalist Sam Dillon angrily roaring about the 'Curse of technology'; the disconnection of people with real life and the increasing obsession with constantly being online and 'connected' while ignoring real life happening around us. Towards the bridge there is a transition from that perfectly toned bass to an excellent almost soaring but menacing guitar line which evokes the sight of vultures circling carrion which then ride the air currents to their final crushing destination.
"Locust Christ" is almost a punk/thrash song, blasting through its 1:38 run time barely allowing time to breathe. Somehow it contains a quick moment of reprieve right before regaining momentum and continuing to trample your eardrums into paste. Many songs reference the Locust Christ or the Judas Steer, characters directly related to modern politics and world events. A Judas steer or goat leads the flock to the slaughterhouse while the Judas itself is spared from death. "Judas Steer" calls this treachery out specifically with the lines, 'Snakes among us / you’ve always been here / you never loved us our Judas Steer/ we’d love you to lead us to the axe.'
In addition to the musical consistency the production is much more powerful and the clarity has been improved without sounding too polished. Magnus Lindberg (Cult of Luna) did an excellent job bringing out the best in the band’s sound. drummer Adrian Griffin returned to Australia from his stay in Asia and his return greatly improved the presence of the percussion, his performance is excellent here.
It might be said this is more of the same but the tightness of the songs, the album flow and individual performances have all improved so when it’s done this well there’s not much to complain about. Can’t wait to see what these guys come up with next.
https://pelagicrecords.bandcamp.com/album/vestigial
