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Norway’s Leprous have conjured up a number of exceptionally morose but symphonic and impassioned progressive metallic odysseys over the previous few years (together with 2019’s Pitfalls and 2021’s Aphelion). Led by frontman Einar Solberg’s operatic singing and gloomy sentiments, the quintet by no means fails to ship lusciously evocative and temperamental compositions fueled by intoxicating introspections.
Their newest sequence, Reminiscences of Atonement, actually earns its place inside their esteemed catalog, however in comparison with its predecessors, it’s at the least a bit much less memorable and impactful. Even so, it’s removed from a disappointment because it nonetheless packs the hefty emotional and musical punches that’ve been charming followers since Leprous first broke onto the scene with 2009’s Tall Poppy Syndrome.
According to Solberg, the album started gestating in March 2023, and a significant aim was “to take away all of the orchestral components and focus the whole lot extra across the precise members of the band.” He provides:
It’s a change of path in Leprous for positive. The aim was to be extra straight to the purpose and extra pure, in a manner, to emphasize our qualities extra by including much less. . . . It’s type of heavier [than Aphelion] in its personal manner, and it’s very trendy sounding and never retro in any respect. It has a whole lot of digital components. It’s heavy, it’s catchy, and there are a whole lot of songs that might probably work as singles. I’m undecided it’s very prog . . . perhaps a bit of right here and there, however normally, not a whole lot of odd time signatures on this one. It’s extra heavy than proggy, however not in that customary heavy manner.
To his level, Reminiscences of Atonement is persistently direct and abrasive, however with the tenderness and succulence Leprous are recognized for. “Silently Strolling Alone” instantly establishes the brooding tone of the report with its digital basis, refined strings, piercing instrumentation, thunderous bellows, and defiant declarations (“Operating up the slope to combat / With flashbacks from the evening / To the place I used to be born in guilt / The place each brick was constructed”). It’s not fairly the melodic powerhouse that prior openers resembling “Running Low” and “Below” have been, but it surely’s a rattling robust option to begin all the identical.
That blunt aggression carries over to a lot of the subsequent items. In traditional trend, Solberg’s multilayered falsetto outcries assist pacify the in any other case confrontational and hectic “Atonement,” whereas “Limbo” is toweringly gruff but in addition faintly playful, danceable, and funky. Admittedly, “Faceless” and nearer “Starlight” are blander by comparability, however their sheer ferocity retains them partaking and commendable.
Naturally, the band scatter a whole lot of softer passages into their hostile hodgepodges, and it’s at all times to nice impact. Specifically, “My Specter” unfolds like a bittersweet jigsaw puzzle comprised of cathartic admissions (“I don’t must atone / For the sins you’ve grown / Tonight, resolution is in sight”) alongside an eerily plaintive and quiet association. Afterward, “Like a Sunken Ship” juxtaposes that very same form of splendidly chilly meditative tranquility with djent-like outbursts and denseness, and as its identify suggests, the penultimate “Self-Happy Lullaby” is usually a poignant and soothing dip into heavenly harmonies and haunting atmosphere. It’s a brilliantly subtle composition that holds you in its grip till the very finish.
That Reminiscences of Atonement falls marginally wanting – on the very least – Pitfalls and Aphelion is extra of a testomony to their greatness than it’s a knock in opposition to Leprous’ newest LP. By itself, Reminiscences of Atonement is kind of transferring and dynamic, and it homes nearly the whole lot that’s made the group just about unrivalled at what they do. It’s simply that each one these components yielded barely stronger outcomes previously. Nonetheless, Reminiscences of Atonement will undoubtedly fulfill Leprous followers and be thought to be one other very good assortment that additional solidifies the quintet’s stylistic hegemony.
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