There seems to be a pong of change in the atmosphere. I know that there have been plenty of Metal groups that made J.R. Tolkien as a high valued individual, not that he hasn't been already as he wrote the classic "Lord Of The Rings" epos. However, sometimes I felt that some of these bands just overdid it and overwrote stop to the verge that it became a nuisance as they came down to ruining the presage that was channeled through each stories' sections. However, things can take a different turn and resurface with new themes to take apart, like inter psychological matters for instance. LOTHLORYEN, based in Minas Gerias, Brazil, another great example of the rising force of Brazilian Metal, not it hasn't been quite influential a wide variety of bands playing multifarious forms of Metal, have deliberating with the inner human condition instead of too much telling the same old Tolkien stories in their own version with their brand new release of "Raving Souls Society". Striving to be as divergent as they can be, LOTHLORYEN fruitfully projected and created a wonderful interlocking of Heavy, Power, old school and modern oriented, and several elements of Folk and Thrash Metal following a few jagged attributes as enhancing flavours.

Other than the material, which pretty much made me a newly found fan of the band and its musical direction, I enjoyed the sound production of this release. The band's hefty sound crosses between the late 80s / whole 90s BLIND GUARDIAN albums and the modern severing, sharp edges, slices of second and third albums of DARK EMPIRE. As for the music itself, the direction took shape as a great fusion of the themes and music ingredients of both BLIND GUARDIAN and DARK EMPIRE as well but also of REBELLION, PERSUADER and STRATOVARIUS thus making the band's music melodic oriented, though my personal favourite track "Sun Of Delirious" is a heavy and every tad thrashy riff based phenomenon, infested with keyboards lead, electric sampling, which didn't ruin my listening experience I might add, and an a rather assorted rhythm section not totally enslaved under the reign of the Euro Power Metal deliverance. Vocal wise, I really liked the diverse voice pattern of Daniel Filipe (RYGEL). Sounding similar to a joint blend of Hansi Kursch and Michael Seifert, Filipe is a wonderful talent and a great vocal discovery, distributing a rough and raspy low register tones along with a manner of mid to high end melodies beautifully.

The music seemed masterful, well crafted punching through with a whole lot amount force as on the smashing "When Madness Calls", "A Tale Of Luncay", "Temples of Sand" and "Face Your Insanity" while also sharing a few emotive and moderately story telling as on the fine closer of "My Old Tavern" or the dreamy "To Live Forever". Also I won't forget the aforementioned "Sun Of Delirious"that sent strong electrical charges through my mind just as the lunacy and psychosis that LOTHLORYEN composed about. In general, "Raving Souls Society" is more or less in the same level, which is rather high, has an amazing flow and great sound and performance by its creators. I suggest that if you are an open minded Metalhead looking to score something diverse, I believe that you would find a comfy home with this particular release.