I picked this up based on the strengths of their last record, and it doesn't disappoint. Expect no frills death metal with shitloads of speed and a precise performance. It's not so much unlike their last record at all, in fact. I wouldn't say that Lost Soul is at all as riff based as some of their Polish companions, but they can pack a punch from time to time. I'd cite more of a Morbid Angel influence in some of this work than I noticed last time around (the awesome "To the New Light" sounds like it could've been on "Covenant"), but they're not a ripoff. I'm all over the blazing solos that equally combine melody and a sense of chaos, and there are a few riffs that churn out some fierce technicality... but speed is the dominant factor overall. The only thing I dislike about this record are the sparse uses of keyboards, because they're slightly more prominent and frequent than they were in the past, and they serve absolutely no purpose at all. Usually the synths mirror the guitar chords in some way, and they pop in and out without much of a real reason, so they detract from the overall feel of the record big time. I say fuck the keyboards and strip it down to basics, because there are four little keyboard instrumentals spread throughout the record and all those do is bulk shit up and keep the fury from flowing! The recording is fine by me. The drums are of course slightly rigid and the bass is hard to hear, but the guitars are well controlled and clear, and the vocals sound really strong. All I'd like to hear would be some bass thickening up the rhythm section a little and helping to maybe keep the percussion in check. The layout's 50/50, and seems to have been done by whoever does the artwork for Decapitated (I assume), because this looks eerily similar in some respects. I love the old school death metal logo on the cover, and the illustration is pretty damn cool, but everything else sort of sucks. I hate it when bands put stupid looking band photos all over the place, especially when they wear all black and try to look so serious and intense, fading their pictures in with the background artwork. That's just so damn silly. The lyrics don't really do anything for me, I don't like 'em that much, but I'm not turned away either - at the very least, despite the album title's insinuations, the content of the songs does go deeper than being all out antichristian fare. This is a damn solid death metal record. I really hope these guys do everyone a favor and toss the occasional keyboards in the future and just go for the throat, but either way they drop a number of winners herein.
[Osmose]
Running time - 36:30, Tracks: 12
[Notable tracks: To the New Light, Soul Hunger, Adoration of Violet]
Lost Soul - http://www.lostsoul.metal.pl
