The Norwegian collective Leprous closes out the year with yet another glittering masterpiece in their eighth album, Melodies of Atonement.
Opening with the bold electro heartbeat of “Silently Walking Alone,” the album sets a great narrative that sweeps through the rest of the tracks. The melancholy is present in abundance through the delivery of vocalist Einar Solberg, but so too is a fresher, heavier side. This continues to flow effortlessly into the follow-up track, “Atonement,” which perfectly encapsulates the essence of this new album.
The band has once again recorded with David Castillo. Upon hearing the results, especially on “My Specter,” it is evident that he has embraced the creative directional shift, allowing Leprous to experiment and take the listener on an emotional rollercoaster.
Vocally, “I Hear The Sirens” is hands down the album’s crowning glory—”unequivocal triumph” doesn’t do it justice. This is followed by the boldest and heaviest offering, “Like A Sunken Ship,” accompanied by a great video.
Things take another twist, dominated by slower soundscapes and prominent basslines in the form of “Limbo,” and again the band demonstrates their flawless ability to maintain the album’s flow with “Faceless.”
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The overall expression may be bolder, but there is something in “Starlight” that keeps the progressive metal wave current and weaves seamlessly into the penultimate offering, “Self-Satisfied Lullaby,” with its ominous overtones and subtle chiptune elements, all flooded with atmosphere.
“For us, this album is by far the one we’re most satisfied with, and we think it’s our best,” Solberg avows. “It’s a cliché for a band to say that, but we really think so, and after the feedback we’ve had from people so far, it seems that a lot of people agree. We don’t want to be cocky about it, but we feel it’s our strongest album to date. I think we’re pretty confident that this album will take us a few more steps up the ladder, and a lot of these songs will work extremely well in a live context.”
The album concludes with the majestic “Unfree My Soul,” closing a chapter that has been littered with a fierce sense of reinvention and a captivating nature throughout.
A wonderful collection of musical cinema.
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Melodies of Atonement is released 30th August.
Header image by Tomasz Gotfryd
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