ALBUM REVIEW: Necropolitan – Green Lung
Having taken us through a sprawling tour of the folklore of the British Isles with This Heathen Land, GREEN LUNG now extends a hand to take us to the myths, legends and morbid facts of the urban. A trip to the capital’s streets to stories of cemeteries, magic and mystery, this is not a sequel, more a companion album a reverse of the coin paid to the boatman. Folk story tellers with a penchant for traditional sounding heavy metal and not afraid to have fun with doing what they love, Necropolitan is the hotly anticipated fourth album from the macabre metallers.
What has become apparent through charting the previous releases of GREEN LUNG is the seasonal theme that appear to have grown organically. Woodland Rites, has a definite spring like feel, Black Harvest, takes root in autumn and This Heathen Land has a summer solstice vibe. To complete the set, it appears that winter required a soundtrack. Necropolitan with its lyrical stories laced with dark Victorian myth and fact, with brooding cemeteries and concepts of death has naturally rounded this out. A well-orchestrated layout without being directly conceptual, the thematic tie ins aren’t limited to this abstract vision.
On Black Harvest, we were treated to the wonderful Graveyard Sun which, at least, musically, introduced Highgate Cemetery. On Necropolitan, the band take this one step further with featuring Highgate within the network of seven Victorian places of rest united by the very real Necropolitan Line. A train ride for the dead. Yet, here it is presented as one of the finest hard rock tracks of the year. It rattles along at an excellent pace. It crackles and fizzes with an energy akin to Dave Vanian of THE DAMNED fronting DEEP PURPLE at the height of the partnership of Jon Lord and Roger Glover. It proudly holds up its influences yet is utterly GREEN LUNG originality, and that is the main drive of the whole album.
The band have never been shy to incorporate their influences in their sound. Yet they’ve never been a copycat act. Ozymandias oozes Iommi like riffs with an unbound swagger, yet with a soupçon of poet Percy Shelly thrown in. The whole thing swirls together to culminate in an absolute anthem for GREEN LUNG. Some may rue the fact that as they have grown, GREEN LUNG have become more polished in their sound. While the production on Necropolitan is crisp and expertly finished, tracks like Ozymandias and the groove infused Dance To The Grave perfectly recall the sound and feel of their earlier releases. It has the presence of a debut, with an aggressive stance, a powerful statement with the attitude of a band that have now come to understand themselves and relish in the music they make.
There’s no hint of ideas drying up and the quintet are obviously taking as much of their live playing experience as they can to help craft these new tracks. Each one of these tracks can be taken straight from the record and slotted into their live set without disrupting anything. They’ve taken the sound down to basics, but the presence is massive. Black Magick Radio and Evil In This House could get a crowd dancing with the layered melodies and closer To The Gallows Born could haunt a large venue or captivate a festival with the engaging vocal harmonies. On this release, GREEN LUNG are firing on all cylinders from start to finish.
At four albums in, GREEN LUNG have now come to release their quintessential album. Necropolitan brings together elements that were laid down on early eps and have been cultivated throughout the previous releases. Now, they come to full fruition. The guitar riffs are catchy, the solos bolder, the driving rhythm section is a unified force harnessing the foundation. Hammond organ is given more prominence rather than an accent instrument; it helps lead the melodic charge. All the while the vocals take the centre stage. With hooks abound, the band deliver on all fronts. One can clearly pick out the influences of genre giants and hard rock forebears, yet GREEN LUNG have a fully-fledged identity and it gleefully draws breath on the new album.
Rating: 9/10
Necropolitan is set for release on September 11th via Nuclear Blast Records.
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