Artist: Lapsarian
Album: Ruminant
Genre: Black Metal, Post-Metal, Progressive Metal
Country: USA
Release date: 22nd of November, 2019
Self-Released EP
Cover Artwork © Lapsarian
Ruminant is four-man Metal band Lapsarian’s debut EP, heading from Washington DC. I am always interested in exploring new music, especially if it is a new band or a band that is not increasingly popular in our hemisphere. So, let us look, or better hear, what Clay Oboth, Chase Madson, Harrison Pippin and Lee Stablein present.
The first song “Godspeed” starts off similar to the beginning of a jam session in a bar, a Post-Rock-like sound, playful with faster and slower sections – with a very prominent xylophone in the background. It’s a calm and a pleasureful song, until the last third of when a hard break cuts off the track and switches the genre – From clear vocals – like a church choir – Lapsarian change to hard and distorted vocals. It surprised me in a positive way, simultaneously the sound continuously progresses towards increased heaviness before it ends. “The Accomplice” starts slower than the beginning of the album, but it drags you deeper in, the riffs are way more aggressive and sharper for your ear. Lapsarian trust the clearer vocals then, again, Post-Rock-like. However, it drifts more and more into increased aggression, although it doesn’t come as a surprise – as we heard on the previous track. It seems to be more experimental – pain and depression that are expressed through riffs and drums. With the third song, “Allegory of the Cave”, Lapsarian begins quicker, but switch way faster into a harder part, although the sections switch way more frequently than before. You can hear that they know how to change their style in the songs smoothly, something a lot of bands are not capable to do in the same quality. Their last song “Deadseer” is the heaviest song on the album, it’s more depressive, psychedelic and Black-Metal-esque than the other songs, but you can recognize similar structures. The quick drums invite you to bang your head, the harder riffs let you fall into the song structure and the song ends faster than you think although it’s six and a half minute long.
Overall, after my first listening session I was quite surprised because of the good sound quality. The album is very playful and it makes me curious to hear more from Lapsarian. The band had quite fitting ideas for their first EP and are on the right way. Sometimes, I thought I missed something, a new twist, a little touch of new ideas, but I am sure that this is something that can improve in the development of the band. They added a kind of new touch that I didn’t know – and that is something a lot of bands can’t do.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
8/10
As usual, we added the favorite track(s) to our Transcended Review Playlist.
Leave a Reply