Lycanthia
Oligarchy

Lycanthia are returning with a second album, one that follows their 1999-release Myriad, they have also released an EP in 2006 so these Australians are not the most eager album releasers I have had the fortunes to listen to. Maybe they are more diligent when it comes to perfecting their craft of music making, it seems that they have not spent that much time perfecting the cover art for this album. The cover art is not the main thing of an album though so what are we to say about this one?

It is a gothic metal album, very much built around vocal interactions and strong melodies. There is also quite a lot going on all the time, the soundscape is massive and quite busy. There is a lot going on in this album, it is a complex album to take in so I would suggest that you listen to it a few times if you want to make an opinion about it. The production is very strong and the sound is rather good, not so varied as one might think as the busy soundscape detracts from that in a bit. The album is quite long as well, nine tracks with 53 minutes of playing time.

I think this is a rather difficult album to really get to grips with, maybe I am not understanding it completely or something because it is despite all its virtues an album that I don’t quite take to. Not that I find it bad or anything, just not as good as it could have been considering what it offers. Maybe it is the busy soundscape that makes it something of a task to make out the nuances of the album, because it has nuances many of them but often when I listen I just hear this wall of sound where it is hard to really make something out of it. It sounds good but that’s about it. I find this a quite good album but nothing more than that. It is well put together though.

In the end I guess it all depends on who you are and what you like to listen to, it is a solid album but it is spectacularly anonymous at the same time. I guess that if you are the person who likes sitting down in a dark room just listening to some gothic metal and you are willing to listen carefully to make out the details then you’ll find this album interesting and good. If you belong to this busier generation of today and don’t have that time for music it will probably be one of those good sounding album that doesn’t quite hit you.

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