review: Lantern

Lantern

Dimensions

Dark Descent Records

June 24, 2020

There is something about this Finnish enterprise. Maybe it’s the vocals. It is a semi-intelligible growl-scream similar to Motörhead, Max-era Sepultura, 1990s Death, Gojira, Dismember or Fear Factory. These vocals could appeal to fans who prefer better enunciation in growling vocals, and not so much the totally incomprehensible gargling, although for the same reason the genre zealot fiends might not like these vocals for not being vile guttural enough. At any rate, you will almost, kind of, feel like you understand what the vocals say.

What is it about Lantern? Perhaps it’s the guitars. The sound is unmistakably death, but it’s how they do it. It seems like they manage to make the music memorable without resorting to the clichéd sugary melodies, as if to walk a more satisfying, more skilled path. There are melodies, there are good riffs (not grooves), and it’s done with skill, and it’s cool to hear the extra effort taken to reach other depths, searching for that sound that is fresh to the ear while also working in a respectful way towards tradition, and not trying to be weird for the sake of being strange. The guitar tone, you could say, is death, and there are lots of death riffs and all, but thrash, black and heavy metal riffs are in there, too, smoothly and coherently knitted into the sound. However, this is not a genre mixing album and the guitar work is not attempting to have a mixed-style salad. It is a rather smooth style that the band does. It’s only with repeated listens that the glimpses and flashes of these previously mentioned things begin to shine through more strongly.

What is it about Lantern? Maybe it’s the songs. Listeners will sense the confidence that what is important is the songs, not the genre. One might even find hooks and licks that can be traced back to the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, such as on song number four “Cauldron of Souls.” This is a Finnish band, but they don’t do that provincial thing about sounding “Finnish.” Yes, one can hear some old and classic “American” bits and pieces; some “Norwegian” riffs, so on and so forth, but all these things do not matter in Lantern. Perhaps that’s it! That one can hear some “doom” on “Shrine of Revelation,” without some formulaic plan. In another words, listeners won’t get the feeling that the band said, “Hey, amici miei, listen, our song is going well, but we need to add the ‘doom’ part! Let’s add it now!” One is not going to be listening to this thing waiting for the “doom,” or “thrash” part. That’s the difference. It’s not a strict recipe for every song.

In the 1990s it was obvious that Chuck Schuldiner was not interested in “making sure” that the music sounded like “death metal.” Fans can tell that Mille Petrozza a long time ago figured out that Kreator, once they got past the identity crisis, could do lots of things, without adhering to the “thrash” recipe. The crucial thing is not fitting into a genre. There are no retro intentions, for instance, but one might hear some things that remind of the classics. Lantern is, in fact, death metal. It’s just not a band trying to be prove it. It’s not “Finnish” death metal, whatever that means. Instead, it is a band that has made an effort to write memorable, quality songs, and it just so happens that their craft is extreme metal. What a wonderful album. A highlight in the month of June.