So I'm a day late again, which is something that's probably going to happen semi-regularly from now on. I always tell myself I'm going to get my write-ups done early each week, but I never do, and by the time Friday rolls around, I'm burnt out from work and the last thing I want to do is stare at a screen and string words together for another couple of hours. Even though I had yesterday off, I spent the whole day running erands and then spent the night having my love echolocated by the vivacioous and versitile Ville Valo (get you a man who can do both!)*, which left neither time nor energy to wax lyrical about the various virtues of symphonic power-thrash or crussing tech-metalcore.
Then too, there is the irrisitable appeal of waking up refreshed on Saturday morning, drinking my coffee while seeing what the gang are getting up to on RuPaul's Drag Race: UK vs the World and then putting on some tunes and writing this up in a much more relaxed and productive headspace while I wait for the new episode of Season 16 to drop. So until this season ends at least,** or I find the energy and motivation to do this on a Thursday, this is probably going to become a Saturday thing for the forseeable future.
*Love and metal, that is.
**Pretty Sure Nymphia Wind's got it in the bag.
Just because the old guard are standing strong, doesn't mean there aren't new bands out there giving them a run for their money. Lutharo had impressed me previously with their enthusiastic, power-tinged Arch Enemy tributes previously, especially 2020's Wings of Agony EP, but the band have really outdone themselves on this one. Chasing euphoria sees the Canadian act pulling away from the more power-metal-inclined direction of previous record Hiraeth (2021) in favour of a more aggressive thrash-focused approach that has finally allowed them to flourish. Artists like Arch Enemy and Unleash the Archers remain the band's closest comparisons, but there's elements of modern Trivium and more recent Nightmare in there as well. Above all though, Chasing Euphoria does the whole Arch Enemy meets power metal infinitely better than Will to Power (2017), which is an admittedly low bar to clear but one that the Canadian act absolutely obliterate.
It's possible the magic ingredient is new drummer Victor Bucur (Crimson Shadows, Unbowed), but the whole band seem to have really come into their own on this one. The opening flurry of "Reaper's Curse" casts Victor Bucur as a guitar hero in the making and vocalist Krista Shipperbottom's performance is both more diverse and much more comfortable in her newfound and far more fitting mid-range approach, rather than the ambitious falsettos of previous offerings. In fact, cleans often remind me of Blood Command's Nikki Brumen, especially on the surprisingly upbeat "Ruthless Bloodline", even though she's neither Australian nor Norwegian, as far as I know. She could maybe use a bit more studio bolstering, whether in the form of additional tracking or extra reverb, to truly bring out the power of her performance, but the passion is certainly there and utterly palpable.
If the power-tinged melodicisms of Lutharo are too much for you to handle, then may I suggests See You tomorrow Baby, by oddly monikered Anglo-American act Weston Super Maim, who practise crushing, laser-infused, tech-metalcore in the vein of Car Bomb and Frontierer and get about as close in quality to those acts as any in their rather limited genre-space ever have. As expected, See You Tomorrow Baby also sounds a lot like Meshuggah, perhaps more than a lot of modern tech-metal/djent albums have for a while. What sets Weston Super Maim apart though is that they draw far more from the off-kilter grind of earlier albums like Chaosphere (1998) than the oft-aped bounce of Nothing (2002) and Obzen (2008), while also bringing some more relaxed, electronic breaks to the mix as well. The result is a refreshingly listenable, though no less crushing offering, that proves there's room within this sound for more than just its originators, even if Frontierer vocalist Chad Kapper makes an almost obligatory appearance, along with more diverse and unexpected guest spots from members of Soreption and Blindfolded and Led to the Woods.
The new Aborted album is also very good.
