It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel … thoroughly pissed off. That seems to be the thrust of Finnish metallers Lost Society and their latest If The Sky Came Down (Nuclear Blast).
There can sometimes be a fine line between highlighting mental health issues and exploiting the righteous suffering, frustration and consternation of the Youth of Today. While this new album is driven by a firmly negative, even nihilistic vibe, it seems Lost Society’s hearts are in the right place (somewhere between their balls and their brain).
Some thrashy moments survive but, following 2020’s No Absolution, the boys more or less stick to the groove and the nu-metal. Singer/guitarist/founder Samy Elbanna’s mostly clean, convincing and often compelling vocals are to the fore. Heavy riffs lead to hooky choruses via metalcore melodies and breakdowns. The mournful “all hope is gone” vibe is simplistic, too repetitive and too “on the nose”, but despite all the dread, doom and gloom there are still lots of bouncy, moshy, jump-jump-jumpy bits.
Opener ‘112’ straight off loads up on the angst and the agony: “Yeah, it feels like I’m carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders/ Like I’m the only one out here alive/ I’m carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders/ I can’t stay, told you I’m not okay.” (Emergency number ‘112’? Personally I prefer Rush’s 2112, but maybe that’s asking “2” much).
‘We Are The Braindead’ is probably the most “fun”, most hooky song – it’s “this one is for the broken” approach recalls vibrant Manchester, England, band The Hara, their tangible desire to win acceptance for those who just happen to be “different”. Or maybe that’s just me. (Lost Society, of course, have a 2016 album called Braindead, and a track ‘Braindead Metalhead’, from 2013 debut Fast Loud Death. Not to mention ‘Overdosed Brain’ from 2014’s Terror Hungry). ‘Stitches’ thickly lays on the medical references and maintains the black mood: “I keep on opening my wounds to watch them bleed/ If I’m my own god, I guess this is heresy.”
‘Awake’ opens atmospherically with strings and then a strong, ravine climbing, canyon gouging riff takes us nicely into one of the album’s stand-outs. Well conceived, well constructed, very well executed, this should rule as a live set-piece. ‘Awake’ offers glimmers of hope in the black void, but subsequent tracks sent me back to relative slumber. The intriguing and arresting ‘Creature’, though, delivers demonic, horror movie atmospherics and more nihilistic, self-lacerating excess and hyperbole, plus another nice geetar solo (there are a fair few on this record).
The title track hits a fine groove, punctuated by another sing-a-long chorus, and melancholic closer ‘Suffocating’, opening with piano, is the closest the guys get to a power ballad. Elbanna impresses again with his vulnerable vocals before opening up and showcasing his range.
Buy the record here: https://bfan.link/LS-Album.yde
7 / 10
CALLUM REID