Having been a prolific creator for the last ten years, covering several strands of extreme metal with various founded outfits such as the eponymous Herbst, the blackened death of Epitaph, and the current death/doom of Owl, Germany’s Markus Herbst (a.k.a. Markus Stiegenhort) now delivers the fourth offering from his darkly melodic Lantlôs. Their last two albums were graced by the ghostly tones of the somewhat legendary Neige, so it is initially to this set’s credit that the Alcest hero’s absence here isn’t particularly noticeable.

A suite of lush, stark yet emotive landscapes, Melting Sun (Prophecy Productions) occasionally confounds as it consistently fails to explode after frequently swelling to the point of crescendo; rendering the black element of their ‘post black’ classification almost non-existent, save for the squalling riff of ‘Jade Fields’. Undeniably miserablist, the heart strings of the lonely and disaffected are twanged with bitter disregard; conversely most of the track titles refer to warm shades of colour, the cover displaying a head exploding with shades of light and falsely advertising a positive, ecstatic emotion. The Herbst vocal is soothing and languid, akin to listening to Elbow’s Guy Garvey whilst drinking a luxurious hot chocolate, but sparingly used throughout the album to provide a consoling, empathetic escort through the mournful surroundings. As always with the genre the lead guitar is the focal point: a laconic resonance decorating closer ‘Golden Mind’ whilst brittle, icicle-sharp harmonies give the outstanding Jade… an added beauty. The gentleness of …Mind, however, is indicative of the apparent lack of passion coursing throughout. Whilst Herbst hasn’t entirely abandoned the harsh sound, unlike his former bandmate’s latest Alcest product, this occasional drifting nature does rob an at times stunningly beautiful album of its full potential.

Those who like the gentle breeze of Alcest’s latest release will do well to dive head first into the wistful shoegaze on offer here. Despite a slight feeling of dissatisfaction due to that wish for a harder edge this is still a wonderful set, leaving you wondering if there really is any point to it all. In a warm, fuzzy way of course.

7/10

Lantlôs on Facebook

Paul Quinn