ALBUM REVIEW: Lament – Totaled

Unlike music, the movie industry tends to have summer blockbusters that fill the warm months with fun activities to spend the time. This being said, there are certain times of the year when tours get announced, albums tend to drop, and general activity within the industry peaks. If you were to look at the music industry like a calendar of summer blockbusters, the long awaited TOOL record might well claim the same spot as the upcoming superhero smorgasbord we are all ravenously waiting for. TOTALED, then, might take up that slot of the random, intensely violent thriller that often sneaks through the cracks and scares all the kids who sneak in to see it.

As Below is the first, suffocating experience of Lament that the listener gets, after a slow and frankly pointless opening 58 seconds titled Deplete. The wailing lead guitar lines cut through the cyclone inducing riffs like forks of lightning in a storm. The immediate shattering of the calm intro is what makes the whole opening nonsense just that, especially when the rest of Lament doesn’t even seem half interested in taking things easy on the listener. There is a distinct and heavy leaning towards more MAYHEM and early WATAIN worship than to, say, the likes of INTEGRITY. Although the ‘blackened hardcore’ genre tag does give TOTALED a lot to play with, the band still seem most comfortable emulating the cold, frost bitten atmospheres of the early 90s than the riff led pummellings of the early 00s.

This is where TOTALED take their chance to shine. The intense, skin ripping speed and aggression that they harness is palpable, and the band do well to further emulate their influences by actually sounding like they’ve been recorded in some dark, cold, and deeply uncomfortable cave. The cavernous drums and ghostly guitar tones sound massive on Eclipsed, and definitely feels to be more of a throwback to the times we’ve experience as opposed to pushing the genre forward. That being said, when the band take influence from the likes of INTEGRITY, it is used to frightful effect. The intro of Desolate eventually gives way to some of the most thunderous bass grooves gifted to us this year.

TOTALED find the most strength and success in the freezing atmospheric black metal that makes up most of their DNA. With this in mind, the consistent intensity is a story that becomes boring after so long. The template is one that is tried and tested, as TOTALED violently carve their way through the same structures and the same landscapes, desperately attempting murder by blast beat and the vocals trying their damnedest to soak the listener in spewtum. Lament is a punishing time, but unless you’re a real glutton for abuse, there might not be as much here than first meets the eye.

For those who dread the sun, Lament is a beautiful, frost bitten middle finger to all forms of musical joy. The album is knee deep in the choking atmosphere that makes up some of the best black metal and wears these influences keenly on its sleeve. Whilst impressively aggressive, and utterly flaying in its intensity, TOTALED fall short in the repetition of their assault, and also in the constant need to look back at what has been, and not forging forward to what could be. The moments when TOTALED wield their hardcore influence and fuse it to their blackened tirade are when the group shine the darkest, and it definitely shows a potential for some of the most punishing and abusive music for us all to look forward to in the future.

Rating: 6/10

Lament is out now via Profound Lore Records.