Route Code Selector

Competent melodic death from Italy? I know, it isn't the first scene to come to mind, but bands like Raintime proved that there is incontrovertibly some potential here. Now, while Raintime was always more of a half-and-half fraternization of traditionally soaring power metal threading intertwined within a clangy, modern framework, countrymen Lunarsea eschew much of the former in favor of a more prototypical melodeath template - albeit with a more malleable scope than most. Yeah, these guys certainly have their sound down pat, and my appraisal of Route Code Selector's successor Hundred Light Years all but proved such. Massive production values bolstered by Alfonso Corace's absolute dominance on the kit kept me more than entertained, even when the luster of the leads began to fade (hey, it always happens).

...and that is really the problem with most modern bands of this ilk. Strip away the inveigling allure of the hooks and you are oftentimes left out in the cold. Keyboards oftentimes fill the void, but only to a point. On an ephemeral level, this would lead to some surface tension evident from the first swell of distortion, but Lunarsea get it right more often than not. As mentioned, these dudes have a rather distinctive tone and mood, and congruence goes a long way toward selling the subject matter at hand. Right out of the box, Route Code Selector impresses even the most impatient of ears, as many of these songs start out in the traditional Lunarsea way. This means that the listener is often bombarded with a barrage of stop-start passages that seem to erratically deviate in and out of form. I gotta say, I'm a sucker for false starts, be it Exodus' "Going Going Gone" or stellar examples from this album like "The Apostate," so a lot of this clicks for me instantly.

The principal idea I am getting at here is that it is paramount to keep the listener guessing, lest the entire ordeal devolve into background music. Melodic death seems to always have this problem, so it is refreshing to see a band like Lunarsea come along and manage to impress wielding the fundamental elements alone. There are always keyboards, but Romagnoli has a very understated style on the ivories and does what is needed to help flesh out the scope of the sound. Never once are the keyboards garish or distracting. Franzoni certainly pales compared to his successor, but his performance seems to be somewhat marginalized by the production values on this one. Route Code Selector is sonically very insulated sounding, with some serious bottlenecking going on around the higher frequencies. The toms lack virtually any depth, and sometimes the airy leads get all but swallowed up.

It isn't a complete loss, however, as the rhythm section sounds rightfully meaty and clangs and bangs at the expected frequencies. Commendable vigor is evident vocally as well, as Lunarsea is always experimenting with some clean tones to break up Palma's choppy barking. "Metamorphine" is the greatest example here, as the refrain really brings the song home and cements it alongside "Next and Future" as one of the band's best works. It might grow a little thin on the longplay, and it definitely loses something near its conclusion, but Route Code Selector earns a more-than-passable grade from me. It lacks some of what's to come, but the band will find it quite the challenge to beat the consistency evident on the first half of this album, and for that, this fits quite nicely next to Hundred Light Years. Worth a listen if you've had your fill of the oftentimes distracting, brash Scandinavian scenes.