ALBUM REVIEW: Lust For The End – Lonescar

The Lone Star state could not produce a metal band for the rest of time and it would still find itself in the Hall of Fame thanks to PANTERA. But that would be doing Texas a disservice; bands like UPON A BURNING BODY and DROWNING POOL have also come from within its borders and thrashers POWER TRIP are making huge waves as well. Now, LONESCAR look to join the elite with Lust For The End, their debut album that was self-released at the end of last month.

Like a couple of the outfits mentioned above, there is a plenty of groove and riffing that comes out of this album. Opening track Gluttonous To The Core, although having a slow start, develops into something that wouldn’t look out of place on a SEPULTURA album. Something seems a little off about it, admittedly, but given that this is a new band on their first album, they’re bound to be slightly rough around the edges. There are other solid moments across the record too, like the nu-metal bounce on Life is Suffering, the hard-hitting Means To An End and the pacey, penultimate song All Is Vanity. Perhaps the best track is Revolution Now, which is driven along by the SLIPKNOT-esque guitar work from Michael Perez and complimented by Brian Valdibia’s sandpaper vocals.

For all the promise that is shown by the songs mentioned, Lust For The End is infuriatingly inconsistent. There’s a lot of filler on here that goes in one ear and out the other, such as the tepid Undead Assembly and For Envy’s Sake,  which is only just over five minutes in length but drags by the end due to an instrumental passage that is just too long. Perhaps what is even worse is when a song starts really well and seems to be lifting the album to a new level but then loses all momentum and falls short of achieving this. Self-Led is one such example, incorporating an odd middle section that causes the song to splutter and grind to a halt after having built up a rather impressive head of steam. The glaring culprit though is With Your Martyr Self which follows immediately on; the rumbling and pensive groove that begins the track is menacing and packs a fair amount of bite, but it’s all for nothing when it descends into bland, generic metal that doesn’t stand out in the slightest.

Make no mistake, LONESCAR have potential and there are real flashes of talent throughout Lust For The End, but they are guilty of not following through with their initial bright starts; all too often the songs dip in quality as they progress and that leaves a really sour taste in the mouth. If they were to keep up the tempo and throw caution to the wind, they could be really onto something with future releases, but as it stands they’ve played it a little too safe this time around.

Rating: 5/10

Lust For The End is out now via self-release.

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