Totaled
Lament

Every now and then, it's nice to be surprised by a new album release, because I admit, I'm quite attached to the past and I look a bit askance at the new, especially when I find it sounds not very innovative. So surprise it was when I heard a track from Lament by the Totaled, a band that is part of the Profound Lore stable, a label very sensitive to post-something metal offerings.

Let's proceed in order: first of all, nothing is known about the band, except that they are American, probably only two, I deduce this from a photo seen online, but I'm not sure; in the CD booklet there are only the lyrics, there’s no name, no thanks, nothing that says where they recorded. A complete mystery.

Fortunately, the tracks are there (haha!) and all this causes great excitement: we are faced with a highly successful black metal/hardcore hybrid. Tremolo picking riffs reminiscent of early Mayhem, icy and relentless, a destructive rhythm section with drums smoothly switching from blast beat to d-beat and a bass always at the forefront, making no concessions. And then melody pops up here and there, as in the best Dissection, supported by that enveloping and liquid sound dear to the best post-hardcore. Cherry on top finally: solos that seem to come out of an eighties Metallica album. The beauty is that all these characteristics and influences are mixed perfectly together and the songs flow with an almost embarrassing naturalness. The length is also spot on, about thirty-six and something, with no room for filler.

Finally, I've found a modern black metal album (better to say blackcore perhaps?) that I really like, because I admit I don't love the so-called Cascadian which I've always found prolix but above all pretentious, here instead we are faced with a direct band, melodic and dark just enough but that goes straight to the point, as if they were a sort of contemporary Unanimated.

So, if one morning you wake up and don't know whether to listen to Mayhem or Turmoil, put on Totaled and you won't regret it.