Lutharo "Hiraeth" <REVIEW>

“… a blistering 47 minute experience that never lets up for even a second and refuses to get boring…”

Let that thumbnail be an example of how I usually will ruin an album cover for a joke. Lutharo is an MDM band from Hamilton, Canada. They’ve been around since 2013 and have been gaining some traction as a band with a purpose… to fill a sort of niche that marries Power Metal and Thrash Metal into one sound to rule them all. I reviewed the last EP Wings of Agony last year on the :10sec PURGE and while the review was brief, it highlighted a point I thought was pertinent towards this band: they had a close resemblance to bands like Arch Enemy and The Agonist. Not because of the obvious female lead vocalist, but because those bands also like to find a blend between the melodic and the heavy in a way that helps define the melodic death metal genre. But now they’ve got a new beast to share in Hiraeth. According to Google Translate, that word is Welsh for “Longing”. Which in this context, hopefully means “longing for something more unique and identifiable”. Do we get that with this album? Is Hiraeth going to define the sound these guys have been trying to find? Or are they going to be stuck in an MDM loop once again? Let’s not waste much more time, and let’s get straight into it.

We start off the album with “Introspection”, a song that features the pulsing heart beat of what I assume is whatever demon child came out of the world behind the lock in the album cover. It’s a nice intro interlude track, setting us up for what to expect from the album. It emphasizes this about half way through when the full band arrives (missing one Shipperbottom, but you get the point). While it’s nothing super special in my opinion, it isn’t composed horribly, and it does a pretty good job of getting the listener riled up for what caged monster awaits us in the next track. And I say that, because that’s exactly what greets us when we move on to "To Kill Or To Crave”, where Krista Shipperbottom has been released from the chains of intro instrumentals and is able to cut loose from the first few seconds. And this energy is present throughout the entire song. Her voice is definitelly a force to be reckoned with, and gives the music its defining feature that helps it stand out from the rest.

Of course, that’s not to knock the rest of the band either. Victor Bucur and John Raposo are playing some very vicious riffs that splatter blood all over the fretboard. Jesus, their fingers on that thing are so sharp, I wouldn’t be surprised if you could cut steel with those fuckers (makes me feel for their spouses potential hospital bills). The rhythm section on this album is also fantastic. While Duval Gabraiel’s drums aren’t anything really powerful in the mix, his beats and grooves are laying a pretty solid foundation for the rest of the band to stand on. It’s not really earthquake proof, but the band won’t topple over by a rogue flying leaf. And Chris Pacey adds quite a thick low end to the delicious instrumental work. It’s especially evident how well his bass fits in the opening to “What Sleeps In Your Mind”. His bass along with Duval’s drums are a lethal combo together, which only gets more insane once the guitars kick back in.

Also, can we talk for a moment about Krista Shipperbottom’s amazing power metal voice? Seriously, how is this vocalist NOT everywhere at this point? While her screams are the equivalent to pissing off a tiger for stealing its food, her soaring melodies are that same tiger after its been fed… by your dumb ass corpse (never steal a tiger’s food, kids). Her vocals feature something every good power metal vocalist should have: Power, and finesse. And not only does her voice have that in spades, the deck is fucking stacked and she is winning all the chips. It’s also worth noting how her voice is fitting in with the rest of the band, because in melodic death metal especially, a vocalist’s voice can easily clash with the guitar melodies if not careful. On Hiraeth however, I found that they not only didn’t clash, they were accentuating each others strengths and taming their weaknesses.

This comes down to the tones of the guitars but also the great mixing done by Tyler Williams from Monolithic Productions. The dude has a signature with his mixes, in that he’s able to find a healthy balance between all the instruments without compromising the heavy nature of the mix, even if there’s brass like in “Phantom”. The horns towards the end of the song sit so well in the mix, you might almost miss them if you’re not paying attention, and yet they add so much texture to the arrangement. If you don’t know what I mean, you can check out Lindsay Schoolcraft’s Martyr for an example. Nice job guys, you got a good producer here, make sure to feed him!.

Anyways, the album continues with “Worship Your Path” and “Hopeless Abandonment”, and while the edge hasn’t gone down (much to the begrudged dismay of my blood pressure), I feel like I’m still listening to a completely different song. Okay, I’m not giving you the right impression here. Let me put it another way… Usually when bands don’t apply dynamics to their sound at some point, the album can start to blend together (to the point of not being able to distinguish individual songs). This is a fact for most people, long listening sessions with the same sound can have every track feel the same throughout. But right now, we’re halfway through and not only have I noticed every new song, I’ve noticed every sonic change as well. This includes the little break towards the end of “Hopeless Abandonment” where almost 4 minutes in, the drums pull back and let the guitar leads set the mood. It feels like a natural change up into that section, and it didn’t feel forced. Plus it gave I’m sure quite a few people a quick break from the intense cage death match that’s been going on for the better part of 26 minutes.

Coming towards the final 4 songs of the album, “Valley Of The Cursed” starts with a section that puts most black metal bands to shame. But that’s okay, they still have their un-decapitated goats to cuddle with. That intensity remains for the majority of the song, and never lets up. It’s one of those songs that’ll have you power chanting like a mad man, and destroying your surroundings in the ensuing mosh pit like the good metalhead you are… and potentially the bad roommate who now has to pay for damages. Complete side note, can we take this opportunity to gush about the solo work on this album? I’m not sure if it’s one or the other of the two long haired axe weilding shreddy boys who are performing these solos (it could also be both), but the sharp finger comment from earlier has to come back now. Because this is some tasteful and blistering lead work that any metalhead worth their salt can’t help but have a solo-gasm listening to. I’m currently passed out panting on the couch as a result of it, and that’s only a slight exaggeration.

Hiraeth continues into the groove laden “In Silence We Reign”, followed by the thrashing “Eclipse”. That track though is quickly ECLIPSED (people apparently think I’m funny) by the closing track “Lost In A Soul”. I remember hearing this when it came out as a single, and I knew… right then that this was going to be a different beast from Wings of Agony. Yes… it was the closing track that made me be like “They’re home… in an asylum, but they’re home”. It was here I realized that this band had finally settled into their defining sound, after years of trying to discover what that really was, they finally found it. “Lost In A Soul” is a 7 minute blistering, thrashing, and soaring melodic masterpiece that basically spells out the entire album in a nutshell. I’m sitting here trying to come up with any way for me to properly describe my experience with this album, but it’s impossible. I mean sure, I can throw around words like “Blistering”, “Thrashing” and “soaring”, but unless you’re listening to the album right now, those words mean nothing. Afterall, words are what we make them, and without a collective understanding, they are just words. If you haven’t heard “Lost In A Soul” by now, go check it out! If nothing else is take from this review, GO LISTEN TO LOST IN A SOUL! You won’t regret it.

But of course, we come to the part where I should try to come up with any negatives. Well to be honest, this part of the review is actually the hardest to write. I had some serious trouble finding anything bad or even slightly negative about the album as a whole. At a cool 47 minutes, it’s not too long, too short, it’s just the right length for an MDM record to have. Some MDM records can have the bad habit of feeling longer than they are but that wasn’t the case here. I can’t even say that it blended together because I was able to distinguish each song from each other. Nothing was abhorently played either, to me this album is as close to a best album I can think of.

I guess if I had to come up with anything negative, I do feel like Chris Pacey’s bass in some places was just following the guitars more than it could’ve. I feel like if Chris cut lose, a thicc and delicious bass solo would’ve been pretty cool rather than just low chugs. But to me, that’s still not a negative. A bass solo is hard to pull off, and frankly this album has lots of twists and turns as it is. So unless your ears are begging for a Steve Harris moment, you’re not going to have any problems.

This album as a whole is a treat to listen to from front to back, and I’m so glad I had a chance to listen to this after Wings of Agony. I keep bringing it up, but really with Hiraeth I feel like the band FINALLY found their own identity with this album. They always had the skills to play some furious melodic death metal, but now they’ve proven they can do so while incorporating other styles to allow their sound to flourish and stand out amongst the crowd.

So overall, Lutharo struck gold with Hiraeth. A blistering 47 minute experience that never lets up for even a second and refuses to get boring. The performances from all members is on full display here. And while I would’ve loved to have seen more diverse bass work, that never detracted from the albums overall fun and heavy sound. If you’ve been holding out on Lutharo, now you have no excuse. Go get this album! Seriously, it’s got the “Metal Robot Stamp of Approval”!