Luna's Call "Void" Review

    

Classy songwriting in a scene inundated with 'progressive' pretenders - 

    Luna's Call's sophomore effort impresses with wide-ranging and varied musical influences that never feel integrated capriciously. The term 'progressive metal' is quite loaded by its nature - ostensibly bands in this genre are somehow elevated above or are more forward-thinking than their brethren in more roots-oriented genres like doom or traditional death metal - whether by virtue of their songwriting, instrumentation or some other metric. As a longtime fan of the genre, I'm very familiar with the wide-ranging variety of music that can fall under this cognomen - as well as the blurry lines between this and other subgenres. And so, when Dalton here at Makeshift Altars sent me links to this record and I read 'Progressive Death Metal' on their bandcamp page, I wasn't sure exactly what to expect. Thankfully, I wasn't disappointed in the least - while other bands that take the 'progressive' label often are, ironically, quite derivative, Luna's Call instead earns the label with a 50-minute magnum opus that displays elegant and varied songwriting, wide-ranging influence and a virtuosic streak that never allows the musicality to become accessory to what is, admittedly, a very technical group of songs. I'll open by saying outright that I had no context, having never heard these guys before, but that I wound up loving this record and that the production is of an unprecedented quality for an independent release to my ears.

    Void opens in traditional prog metal epic fashion - a loud, ringing chord with guttural growl; is it even legal to write this kind of record without such an introduction? Colors, anybody? I knew exactly the sort of thing I was in for within the first couple of seconds, and when the harmonized vocals join the instruments I'm left with severe Contortionist/Between the Buried and Me vibes. But let's not think too much of our prior frame of reference for these kind of records, though - while many of the elements present here might remind you of other metal bands, I consistently found myself surprised by the detours this record took. 

    Merced's Footsteps merely serves as an introduction to the record proper, however; we're quickly assaulted by something a little crunchier in 'Signs'. Thrashy riffs give way to a mid-tempo gallop; throughout, the keyboards are always audible, coming forward in the mix when melodically necessary and forming the harmonic backbone of the record, while the guitars reach for a wide gamut of tones that are always mood-appropriate. In this single track we see thrash metal riffery, Blackwater Park mid-tempo grooves, melodic guitar solos, raunchy swamp-bass grooves, a short chromatic section, rhythmic odd-metered chanting, all tied together with masterful songwriting that doesn't make any of this feel overwrought nor overwritten. I was barely aware that I had spent nine minutes listening to this track before I noted it down - definitely have to listen to this one again. Both it and the following track, Solar Immolation are representative of the record as a whole. From a structural standpoint, the band is able to do what 'progressive metal' ought to, in my mind - fuse a disparate variety of sounds and musical ideas that normally would not be found together into a meaningful whole, all while evoking the rhythmic intensity of metal music. They manage to do this both with longer-form repeating sections and more traditional 'riffs' without anything feeling forced, and having written this kind of music before myself, I have to take my hat off to these guys for doing so in such a successful manner. 

    There is a handful of less-traditional influences in the mix, too. Solar Immolation, as well as Enceladus and Fly Further Cosmonaut especially have a couple of keyboard bits that push into flirtations with electronic music territory. The way the tracks fade into one another as a coherent whole also lends a 'concept album' feeling to the record, and Enceladus - The Life Inside feels like the dramatic peak of this concept, with its' pair of powerful vocal cadences bookended by synth chords, acoustic guitars and even faux-orchestral sounds lending an extra weight to this track that makes it quite memorable for me. Locus feels like the heavier half of this track, proceeding directly from it and developing a musical theme from it, as well as being a showcase for more strange timbres from the band, with occasional flanger and other effects coming into play here for some textural variety. 

    There's a short slam in the form of In Bile They Bathe - probably the most traditionally 'metal' track out of the bunch, with blast beat sections, only harsh vocals rather than the mix of harshes and cleans evident up to this point. There is a very strange section after the blast beasts too with those 'strings' again, and...well, you just have to hear it. Even with 'normal' three minute jams, there lie within strange musical stabs that save this record from ever feeling boring. The last two tracks form a whole in my mind, with the jazzy reverb-drenched guitar chords and moody synth leading into Fly Further Cosmonaut, demonstrating the very same blending of genres and masterful songwriting that we've by now come to expect from Luna's Call. 

    Overall, I really enjoyed my time with this record and have listened to it all the way through about four times now. While many of their progressive metal contemporaries demonstrate an overreliance on metal elements in their music, this relatively new band from the UK have managed here to put together an impressive record. I have yet to hear their first album Divinity, but I'm hoping that even if the production isn't as high quality, the songwriting will be. While I hate to shoehorn this by comparing it to other bands, it will likely appeal to fans of bands like Between the Buried and Me and Haken - regardless of whether you normally listen to this sort of thing or not, I would highly recommend you give it a listen.

    Favorites:  Solar Immolation, Enceladus and the Life Inside 

    You can find the music of Luna's Call at their bandcamp below, as well as on Spotify and other streaming platforms.

-Eric