‘Lento’
is a five piece band specialising in creating drawn-out instrumentals
which conjure up images of dark and unstable war-torn voids via
monstrous riffage, liquid melodies and foreboding ambience. Now,
if these elements seem familiar that is because they are and there
are hundreds of bands out there concocting a mostly sub-par breed
of heavy metal meets post-rock dynamics. It takes a degree of
restraint, an expert ability to arrange and manipulate dynamics,
and above all, an exquisite touch to make a unique record within
this over-burgeoning genre. ‘Lento’ have already displayed
their finery with ‘Supernaturals Record One’,
a split release with immense epic-rockers UFOmammut and ‘Earthen’
is their full length debut on the classy Italian label, Supernatural
Cat.
From the outset it is clear that Lento have been listening to
one-too-many Pelican records and the opener ‘Hadrons’
is Pelican at their finest. What, with its shimmering guitar melodies
lilting over a downtuned barrage of perpetual riffage, ‘Hadrons’
would have made an excellent addition to the fantastic Australasia
LP and that is a serious compliment. ‘Need’ is the
emotive follow-up which brings into play lusher liquid melodies
over a back-drop of crushing and ever-rising riffage to create
a score to impending doom whilst allowing room for reminiscing
about a life once had. The angular twists and turns, the interplay
of the instrumentation, the harmony and progression between soft
and loud dynamics are all evident and listeners are left with
a wonderful and ravaging sonic war-story.
After the dark-ambient soundscape of ‘Subterrestrial’
which gives the listener time to comprehend the heaviness of what
just passed, ‘Currents’ erupts with wafts of angelic
and harmonised vocal-drones which compliment some shredding concrete
riffs to create an awesome (and highly unique) soundscape brimming
with thick and sludgy atmospheric ambience. The arrangement of
the piece draws the listener ever-deeper into the track resulting
in an almost paranoia-inducing, psychedelic affair which leaves
you out of breath. Awesome. ‘Emersion of the Island’
moves into the subtle and fuzzy shoe-gazer soundscape of ambient
Mogwai with its elongated electroid crackles and pops which wash
over the listener in truncated swathes of warm audio-bliss. What
follows is a another onslaught of tidal-wave size riffage which
staggers on a little lazily in comparison to what has passed before,
although the finale is a rather gi-normous beast which will undoubtedly
leave your neck sore from all the head-nodding that will inevitably
ensue. The final track ‘Leave’ commences with a solemn
lullaby which sounds like a score to a bunch of innocent people
being marched along a beautiful coast to an ever-nearing execution
chamber, a sound which ‘Explosions In the Sky’ managed
to craft so realistically. The sound then shifts into a bleak
wasteland in which subtle feedback and intimate atmospheric-drone
reign supreme. A fitting end to such a powerful album.
Overall ‘Earthen’ is a thoroughly impressive debut
album which is undoubtedly influenced by the veterans of the heavy
post-rock scene. ‘Lento’ have displayed their ability
to craft some gigantic and impressive destructo-core which has
been made all the more endearing due to the fantastic angular
arrangements and the moody atmospherics. With tracks like ‘Currents’,
‘Lento’ showcase their ability to move beyond their
influences and a continuation of such ideas will lead to them
being the band that influences others.
For fans of: Pelican, Mogwai, Isis, Red Sparowes, Jesu,
Mono, Explosions In The Sky
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