Saturday, 12 October 2013

Lago - Tyranny (Demo) [Review]

Last week I posted my long overdue review for Lago's debut EP Marianas which greatly impressed me. I decided to also take a close listen to this 2012 demo, which contains songs that will appear on an upcoming full length, which I am really anticipating!
 
This demo starts off right with the track “The Tyranny of Men” which showcases some solid tremolo riffage with pinchy accents. After this, the track breaks into a dissonant blackened section with ringing chords and a really prominent bass line. In fact, the bass is both more audible and does more of its own thing on this demo compared to the band’s debut EP Marianas. The song also contains a melodic solo from new lead guitarist Andrew Breshears. As with the band’s previous work, the blasty sections flow perfectly into the slower and mid-paced sections, such as the weighty and heavy chorus.

“Coming Cataclysm” starts off with another slower, churning intro which shifts quickly into faster paced death metal mode and returns to a doomier feel with the breakdown at the end. Another solid song, but doesn’t capture and hold my attention as “The Tyranny of Men” does.

Lago has undergone some line-up changes since Marianas. Andrew Breshears proves to be a competent and fitting player for this band, though neither of the solos here ‘wowed’ me. New drummer Brian Miller is also great at what he does, though the drumming here seems very kick and blast happy compared to the more subtle but solid approach on the debut EP.

Garret Thomas’s vocals are less prominent on this demo than on the debut, which I find to be a good thing as I much prefer the more guttural lead vocals of Cole Jacobson, who delivers both great vocals and riffs here as was expected.

Another impressive release from a band that has proven themselves as solid song-writers with a definite idea of the sound they are going for. Morbid Angel (sometimes blackened) with a touch of the modern is what we have here, but with good enough song writing that the band stands on its own. The two songs on this demo kick plenty of ass, but did not hit me quite as hard or have quite the staying power as the material on Marianas. Perhaps these songs will shine more in the context of the upcoming full-length, which I am sure will be a pretty killer release!

Tex's rating: 80%

Check it out here!: http://lagometal.bandcamp.com/

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