Hiraeth

Lion Shepherd

You guys should really check out their official website, it's greatly done and so much […]
By Johnny Jackal
September 22, 2016
Lion Shepherd - Hiraeth album cover

You guys should really check out their official website, it's greatly done and so much more professional than alot of stuff I see nowadays. Unfortunately I felt they left out the credit to the other members of the band other than the main vocalist and main guitarist. I do think the band do consider the other members and guest musicians more than anything else actually.

It was not an easy task to review this album, I did not know where to start to be honest. It's so different than anything else I ever reviewed. I highly enjoy anything that just strikes me as different. They definitely don't abide by the rules and they just go with the flow. They have some much different discernible influences. From the psychedelic sounds (reminiscent of really early PINK FLOYD in the Syd Barrett era persay) to something totally off the wall like Middle Eastern Music (reminiscent of quintessential Middle Eastern Progressive Music Masters, ORPHANED LAND).

The use of traditional instruments from the Middle East adds so much texture to the band. I can compare this also to a band like DREAD CREW OF ODDWOOD that have traditional acoustic instruments, it reminds us of the instruments of pirates and privateers back in the golden age of good old plundering. You go back to the roots of your lyrical theme in a sense. You get this incredible connection with your music, something that I can't put words to.
The bond between your music and its roots is immeasurable. I can't pinpoint any song that stands out in my mind. I felt it was like a journey, a wanderer in a past long gone. A bit like if you were a stranger in a strangeland, you have to venture on your own, it's like learning alot about yourself. They talk alot about the past and the fortunes of it. They talk about at length about the importance you put in your roots, your past, in a sense to forge your present and your future. The lyrical themes really hit home for me. Some days you don't know who you are and sometimes you look to the past for guidance. This was my overall feeling about the essential them of this very album.

The sounds of World and Ethnic music throughout this album are so intense that you feel like you are traveling to a distant country, soaking up the culture and the history all at the same time. I felt this album just hit me right in the heart, it was so powerful! I felt transformed, I did not want it to stop. It's like nothing I ever heard before. It may not be the heaviest band in the world (especially compared to what I listen to usually on a daily basis), but the Progressive Music really was overwhelming. They go in so many different paths, but for one purpose, rewarding the listener!

9 / 10

Almost Perfect

Songwriting

9

Musicianship

9

Memorability

9

Production

9
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"Hiraeth" Track-listing:

1. Fly On
2. Lights Out
3. Brave New World
4. Music Box Ballerina
5. I'm Open
6. Past in Mirror
7. Wander
8. Infidel Act of Love
9. Smell of War
10. Strongest Breed

Lion Shepherd Lineup:

Kamil Haidar - Vocals
Mateusz Owczarek - Electric and Acoustic Guitars
Jacek Kieller - Guitars
Matteo Bassoli - Bass
Piotr Podgórski - Drums

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