Every band has an origin story. Some are interesting, a few amusing, but most are just routine tales of auditions, acquaintances or simple geography.
Bands formed after near-death experiences are somewhat of a rarity, though, so for a story to include an actual death experience from its founding member is certainly not something you read about every day.
This, however, is exactly how Taiwanese duo Laang (冷) came into existence.
After being shot in the head during a car-jacking incident, multi-instrumentalist Haitao Yang was pronounced dead for a brief time, his time spent in a coma conjuring up harrowing visions of an otherworldly place beyond hell. Taking these hallucinations as some form of twisted inspiration, Laang was created as Yang’s way of externalizing and coping with such a traumatic experience.
Black Metal with a heavily traditional flavour and more than a smattering of Melodic Death Metal, third full-length studio release Riluo (Talheim Records) combines razor sharp riffs and pummelling rhythms alongside the quintessentially far eastern strings of the Guzheng and the mournful Erhu – all of which Yang plays himself.
Opener “Baoyu” races out of the blocks with classic Black Metal tremolo picking, cinematic keyboard orchestrations giving the song an extra dimension as it switches between chunky melodeath riffs and blasts of feral energy.
The smoothly melodic introduction to “Liuxue de Taiyang” is left unceremoniously behind as Yang’s guitar and ragged vocals savage everything in sight, the song seamlessly shifting through the gears while the subdued erhu and atmospheric keyboards help create a brutal melancholia.
Reminiscent of fellow Taiwanese act Chthonic, “Honghai” comprises moody blasts and cinematic keyboards enriched by some wonderfully dark melodies and pulsing four string work from bassist Willy “Krieg” Tai.
Similarly, “Zhemo”, “Juren” and the depressingly tormented “Gui Xiang” follow the pattern of vicious blasts and slower, dramatic moments wreathed in a blackened undercurrent of far eastern melancholy and swarming vocals, while the electrifying “Yequ” is simply fearsome in its execution, the song producing some sterling work from session drummer Zak King.
Yang’s way of saying goodbye (purely in Mandarin as ever), the haunting title track closes the record in a downbeat, mournful manner. A meditation on the death of the man he was before his life-altering incident, the song (which translates to “Sunset” in English) explodes with viciousness and tortured screams while occasionally easing off to captivate the listener with clean tones and a female semi-operatic backing.
With its blend of Chinese Taoism and Indian Buddhism plus influences from other indigenous cultures, Riluo is a spiritual affair laced with catharsis and torment. A punishing and emotionally charged experience which hints at much more to come.
Buy the album here:
https://laang.bandcamp.com/album/riluo
8 / 10
GARY ALCOCK