Review Summary: Dog in The Wild - forever hunting the passing clouds
To me, Lantlôs shapeshifting musical journey can be told by their album covers. On the self-titled debut, we see darkness giving shapes on grey. That same darkness tries to hold it from the hands with glimpses of red that pull it upwards on Neon. On Agape, the red then turns to cherry, giving it shelter for the colours that end up breaking free on Melting Sun. The Colours then become pastel, synthetic, oddly nostalgic on Wildhund.
That brings us to the latest stop on the journey, Nowhere in Between Forever, where synthetic feeling makes for a nature that you can almost touch. Wildhund’s companion record Glitchking might’ve passed by a lot of people, but it is crucial to understand NIB4E. The 90’s HUM/deftones inspired metal fuses with Glitchking’s electronic ideas to give the core sound of this record.
NIB4E starts familiar enough for those who enjoyed the last album. “Daisies” begins with a pulsing drum beat like Vertigo culminating in a rewarding interlude with dreamy guitar leads and shouted vocals. Then, the album gives his first left-hook with “Cherries”, carrying acoustic strumming on top of a drum machine sort of two-step. The lyrics evoking nostalgia blends it well with synth notes that appear on dissonant harmonies in the mid section, just like how nostalgia distorts our own memories when we look back at it.
In a change of pace that will be recurring throughout the Album, “Oxygen” picks up the momentum with heavy guitars and rapid-fire speech like chorus. Another left-hook is presented on “Jeanet”, with drum n bass and 8-bit like synths that would not sound out of place on a 00’s key gen(those were the days). “Numb TV Superstar” has another two-step beat that reminds me of a sped-up version of Madonna’s Ray of Light or Mariah Carey’s Daydream Interlude Dub Mix.
“Solar Death” brings back the Melting Sun Vibes of Post-Metal with big extended chords on a slower tempo. You could easily put this song on that album by removing the vocal effects. The lyrics on the track almost sounds like a confession of the current state of Lantlos (I cannot help it/I’m somewhere/I’m someone else). “AutoGuard” makes news exercises in blending “Wildhund” sound with Glitchking electronic instrumentation. This track could easily land on Wildhund with the addition of heavy guitars and acoustic drums. “Planets” sounds like a heavy version of “Vertigo Flowers” by Nothing, blending distorted and clean guitars in a dreamy atmosphere.
“Ghost” is the track with most Glitchking influences, with skeletal drums and key patterns that introduce heavy processed subtle vocals. The song grows with layers of additional synths and acoustic drums before closing with his echoed intro. “Clockworks” with its industrial beat is the closest thing to a happy Godflesh song I can ever imagine.
“Windhunter” closes the album on a similar note to “Dog in the Wild” which, given the similar titles, might indicate that both came from the same writing session. On this cut, Lantlôs brings the most lush guitar driven sound on the record. It also gives a sort of ending statement about how the strange elements presented on NIB4E are also part of the sound we grew to love (Cover me oh Summer/and pour my heart into fields of gold/So I can come back home). Lantlos are now inviting us to know not just the living room.
As I went through my repeated listens, the album started to evoke more 90’s/00’s nostalgia as it made me remind and revisit a lot of songs from that era (Milky - Just the Way you Are/Sweet Female Attitude - Flowers to name a few). A sense of nostalgia that permeates NIB4E and puts those memories through a synthetic lens. Just like we do every time we try to remember the last analog decade in the age of AI. For those who were expecting a second batch of wildhund’s avant garde metal will find themselves disappointed with only 4 songs on that aesthetic. But for those willing to take on the journey, they’re gonna find an even more avant garde sound on NIB4E. After melting the sun, Lantlôs arrived at a new green field that we see on the album cover, with infinite possibilities and open to all of them without fear of sounding weird, for that is their greatest strength. The Dog in The Wild is forever hunting the passing clouds in the green field.
