Dekadens

I was really looking forward to this release but also had this feeling that something would be different. Of course Lifelover itself is already different from the horde of black metal bands these days, but here they've put something out I didn’t quite expect. Previous albums sounded frustrated, depressive, angry and nostalgic with a good dose of self-mockery. Erotik felt like if you were walking outside in the city late at night, with still some alcohol left in your veins from an earlier drinking session, while wandering senselessly past empty city streets and asking yourself what the hell you are doing there.

The difference with Erotik is that Dekadens is just more metal sounding, much more than I’d like Lifelover to ever be. The first song ‘Luguber Framtid’ starts out with some soft sounds but quickly we hear a anguished scream provided by Kim, while the guitars are kicking in. The guitars sound well and blend in together nicely, sometimes your hear beautiful clear guitars on top of the riffs. What you immediately notice is that the guitars sound much more heavy, but at the same time more atmospheric. This is how a large part of this EP sounds for me, altough I’m really suprised by how metal the sound is at times. The guitars are heavier than ever by the end of ‘Myspys’. They almost sound like typical metal riffs. Although Kim’s vocals are good, they come nowhere near the greatness of a song like ‘Välkommen Till Pulvercity’ from Erotik.

This EP full of good ideas, but sometimes it looks like if they could haven taken the music to a more level than they actually did. Like if they didn’t give the songs the depth they need. Typical Lifelover elements like melancholic clean guitars are present but not as depressing sounding as they did on earlier releases. The depressive part of the music seems almost to be replaced by heavy guitars and that’s what I miss.

So what do I really think of this? Things that made Lifelover a good band for me (and undoubtedly for others too) are present but there are a few things I miss, or are less there. The heavy, almost thrashy sounding guitars are good, only not for this band. It just feels out of place and chaotic. Still, I can’t say that this EP is bad. It’s just not what I’d like to hear from Lifelover and hope the next release will be differerent. Nevertheless, a band should always carry out their own artistic vision.