lord of the lost antagony

Released: 04 April 2011 Label: Out of Line

As a follow up to their previous album Fears, Lord of the Lost have fired up the fiendish and furious, Antagony. The band have still chained themselves heavily to their gothic metal roots, however, Antagony is a ticking time bomb bound with barbed wire preparing for a bigger explosion than the last. It is an overture of a ‘fasten your seatbelts and go’ album with each song being a different chapter of a book of ‘guidelines to gothic metal music!’

The title track Antagony delivers a sense of depth to the album. From the tranquillity of the piano in the opening, to the launch of the rippling distortion in the verse and the lingering vocals of Chris Harms, the album instantly exposes its texture and intensity.

The album delves into a much darker, hypnotic sector with the song Epiphany. With riots from Chris Harms, Sebsta Lindstrom, Bo Six, Class Genayde, Gared Dirge and Any Weyst, this song leaves a melodic trail of angst, slotting perfectly within the album.

Fragmented Façade is like the equivalent of a military march breezing through a recording studio. Its marching band drumming and thumping guitars gives the song a pulse. Basically, this song is what it’s all about!

For a slower note, Reprise- Sober is the one you want. It is nothing short of beautiful! The simple piano chords loosely bound with Harms’ croaky voice exposes vulnerability, making the song more personal and bringing it to life. With this variety, the band has shown their ability to create an album which is in 3D rather than being one dimensional.

As soon as someone mentions the word revelations we automatically think ‘the end is nigh!’ So naturally the song Revelation 13-18 provokes the same idea. Fitting with the song, the band have been daring enough to open with church organ music, which shows the edginess of the album. From a ludicrously distorted verse, to an angelic sonata ending, it basically has as many chapters as a Bible.

What can we say about the song Sex on Legs? Without sugar coating it, the title is very fitting. With its punchy rhythm and lubricated distortion the song is raunchy, tight and very catchy. It’s not as ‘chaotic’ as the other songs on the album but it is still an eye narrowing, eyebrow raising and get going hit. It’s short, but finger licking sweet.

We Are the Lost is the final act of the serenade. This song without doubt gives the perfect closure to the album. The guitar solo ringing through towards the end brings the song to its climax, letting the band show off their full musical potential. The gentle piano ending puts an eye closing full stop, not just on the song but on the entire album. It is rounded off perfectly! Again it exposes the bands flexibility and ability to make a ‘meaty’ album from the mixture of songs.

All in all Antagonyis the equivalent of a patchwork quilt. Each different cut being a different song and all stitched together, the final product turns out to be a work of art. From the delicate piano skills of Gared Dirge to the spanking guitar riffs of Bo Six, covered by the revved up vocals of Chris ‘The Lord’ Harms, we get bang on ingredients to a gothic metal band, and Antagony made those ingredients go a long, long way. There are not many bands that have the musical ability to balance chaos and compassion and produce a charismatic album. They may be called Lord of the Lost but with this album they are heading in the right direction.

by Kathryn Longbottom