This Italian band that has the name of a Greek mountain (the sacred mountain of ancient Arcadians), Lykaion, are finally releasing their debut album… although they have been around from more than 10 years.
What strikes from the very first listening are the similarities they have with Sentenced, Poisonblack, Charon, To/Die/For, Katatonia… need to say more? I think you all got it. Gothic rock with metal and atmospheric plus melodic passages. Especially, the resemblances with Sentenced’s “The Cold White Light” period are conspicuous while you’re listening to this album. I will not call them a clone band… they are rather heavily influenced by Sentenced… but they immediately need to add more personal elements to their music and become more original… or at least less of a wannabe Sentenced band. They play well… they have some fine ideas, for example the song “Empty” is nice… the production is very tight and powerful, as the album was recorded and mixed at 16th Cellar Studios by Stefano “Saul” Morabito (Fleshgod Apocalypse, Adimiron, Hour Of Penance) and mastered at Fascination Street Studios by Jens Borgren (Katatonia, Opeth, Symphony X, Paradise Lost, Amon Amarth), but that Sentenced comparison that rumbles around my head while I’m listening to the CD… is not doing them any good generally.
They have been in the scene, even in the underground one, for many years… so I was expecting them to know how to avoid clichés and mistakes like this one. They perceptibly didn’t choose to do so. I do not believe they even meant to be compared to Sentenced… for Sentenced is one of the most important gothic metal bands of our time. I think they can present something more personal for if they don’t do so then there’s no point in trying any further…
What strikes from the very first listening are the similarities they have with Sentenced, Poisonblack, Charon, To/Die/For, Katatonia… need to say more? I think you all got it. Gothic rock with metal and atmospheric plus melodic passages. Especially, the resemblances with Sentenced’s “The Cold White Light” period are conspicuous while you’re listening to this album. I will not call them a clone band… they are rather heavily influenced by Sentenced… but they immediately need to add more personal elements to their music and become more original… or at least less of a wannabe Sentenced band. They play well… they have some fine ideas, for example the song “Empty” is nice… the production is very tight and powerful, as the album was recorded and mixed at 16th Cellar Studios by Stefano “Saul” Morabito (Fleshgod Apocalypse, Adimiron, Hour Of Penance) and mastered at Fascination Street Studios by Jens Borgren (Katatonia, Opeth, Symphony X, Paradise Lost, Amon Amarth), but that Sentenced comparison that rumbles around my head while I’m listening to the CD… is not doing them any good generally.
They have been in the scene, even in the underground one, for many years… so I was expecting them to know how to avoid clichés and mistakes like this one. They perceptibly didn’t choose to do so. I do not believe they even meant to be compared to Sentenced… for Sentenced is one of the most important gothic metal bands of our time. I think they can present something more personal for if they don’t do so then there’s no point in trying any further…
