Lantlôs - Agape [2011]

I really, really like the post-black metal movement. Enslaved's latest work continues to enthrall with its cascading melodies, intensely enveloping riffs, and post-rock elements while Alcest never fails to evoke wonder in its light, airy fairyland of shoegaze mastery. Other bands like Blut Aus Nord are providing their usual atmospheric approach while incorporating industrial touches. However, just as this expansive and still young genre's best moments can provide some of the best music available, its worst moments can be interminable exercises in tedium. Unfortunately, Lantlôs, yet another project Alcest's Neige is affiliated with, falls closer to the latter category. There's just not a whole lot going on here.

To be fair, I shouldn't lead anyone to believe that Neige possesses the majority of creative control here. This is first and foremost Herbst's project, as he performs the bass parts, plays guitar, and writes the lyrics. The music itself is slightly rawer and 'blacker' than Alcest, forgoing the dream-like, uplifting style for something more traditionally dark. That would be perfectly fine if these songs actually went somewhere or did anything. The sound in itself is still passable at worst, but as it stands, Agape meanders endlessly with slooooow passages, forgetting to create any atmosphere to go along with them. Neige does provide the vocals, though his wonderful cleans are almost entirely absent (barring opener "Intrauterin") and his harsh vocals, which make up the majority of the release, are no where near as emotional or interesting as on Ecailles de Lune.

Of these five tracks, only "Eribo - I Collect the Stars" fully pulled me into Herbst's capable vision, briefly mesmerizing with the most captivating melody on the record. Brief seems to be a theme here, with a plain lazy 35 minute run time that sadly feels longer than it should while barely exceeding EP length; and I like short albums. It might seem as if I'm not going far enough in depth on the contents of Agape, but that's a direct reflection of the album itself: there's really not much to talk about. It's not truly bad in any way, it's just sorta... here. I would still recommend fans of this type of metal to sample Agape in any way that doesn't require a blind monetary investment, as some might find something here that I didn't. However, in the end there's just too much stick and not enough carrot for my tastes.

   Overall: 5.5/10 (Mediocre)