Hymn For The Fallen
Lightless Moor
LIGHTLESS MOOR'S "Hymns For The Fallen" is an album that, while worth a listen, I wanted to like a lot more than I did. They are a gothic metal band, very much in the vein of TRISTANIA and THEATRE OF TRAGEDY. The opening track sets the stage for an epic of an album that never quite reaches its heights, although the band tries hard to do so. Vocalist Llaria sounds great most of the time but she randomly goes into a very nasal like tone that ruins the atmosphere of the songs; her voice is very much a roller coaster, which is more of a matter of taste rather than any lack of talent. If her entire performance was as good on the rest of the record as the opener "Deviances" then the whole album would flow better. This is a sweeping track with lovely acoustic guitars, nuanced vocals, and sweeping keyboards courtesy of Edoardo. His keys are very impressive, evoking a dark but also playful atmosphere by combining sneaky tones with sweeping orchestration.
Mura's and Mannuci's guitars are somewhat different for the genre; rather than use simple distortion to create an overtone of heaviness, they actually play riffs. This is good because it gives the album a very heavy sound to offset the moody keyboards and vocals. Unfortunately, they don't play anything that is going to blow your mind away. Going back to Mura, his Death vocals are extremely gratifying; it is a scary, deep grow and good enough to front an actual Death Metal band. Spanu, drums, and Siddi, bass, are the two stars of the album. Spanu's drumming is very rich with a great sound to the double bass and plenty of moments that are straight up crushing. The last couple minutes of "The Cascade and the Shadow" show off his monster double bass chops and his ability to crush the cymbals. "The Rain That Clears My Sins Away" is propelled by Siddi's melodic bass that throughout the song and the rest of album shines through the darkness. "Hymn For The Fallen" is a decent album by a talented band but I felt underwhelmed by the end of it but I'm hoping that next time they can blow me away because I know they have it in them.
6 / 10
Had Potential
Songwriting
Musicianship
Memorability
Production
"Hymn For The Fallen" Track-listing:
1. Deviances
2. King With The Sulphur Crown
3. When My Mind Sleeps
4. Deadly Sin
5. In Death She Comes
6. The Greatest Lie
7. The Unlocked Door To The Other World
8. Fairytales Of Lies
9. Qualcosa Vive Attraverso
10. The Rain That Clears My Sins Away
11. The Cascade And The Shadow
12. A Dream Written In The Sand
Lightless Moor Lineup:
Llaria Falchi - Vocals
Federico Mura - Guitars, Vocals
Alberto Mannucci - Guitars
Giuseppe Siddi - Bass
Edoardo Fanni - Keyboards
Stefano Spanu - Drums
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