For fans of Marduk, Taake & Satyricon, according to the Uprising Records promo. We are talking about the Danish band Lotan here. Melodic black metal that can be mixed with so-called black’n’roll, in which aggression predominates. Just so you know. Denmark certainly has a number of strong bands, including for example a black metal band like Afsky. Let’s hear if beautiful Denmark has another gem with Lotan!
The debut album with the self-titled Lotan. Two EP’s have already been released, in 2020 and 2021 respectively Nihil Sacrum and Angelus Pestis, which have been reviewed by fellow editor Joris, but which I am not yet familiar with. So we dive into it pretty unbiased, which may benefit the objective listening. When we put on Lotan for a spin we are completely shocked….Diabolis Victor opens the album with a softly tuned start. Under the influence of calm piano work, we get a pounding after twenty-five seconds. The cups of coffee fly through the living room here! It’s war, not without a doubt, but right now! We didn’t see the extremely loud roaring grunt scream of vocalist Martin Rubini coming. And the instrumental performing also cuts right in, at first without blasts, but they soon arrive at full speed after a melodic bridge part just after the third minute. As if Lotan unleashed a stable of runaway horses on us. We call this hard and impressive. We must certainly emphasize that the feeling for melodic riffing remains intact. Nice detail is that the song ends with the same start-up tune.
Mr. Rubini also immediately got a taste for it during the second song. Ignis revolves around a swirling riff theme, keeping this a very melodic track. In the middle section there is some space to slow down a bit and then return to the opening theme. We often hear the guitar riffs carry this kind of music. That is also the case here, but we have to conclude that Rubini has a very dominant, supporting influence to push the songs forward. It is something different from what we are used to, nevertheless it sounds very convincing on Lotan.
Wow, with Servant Of Yammu the album really breaks open completely. A very erratic, hard black metal riff, bone-hard blasts and drum escapades and a seething Mr. Rubini, who we should just call Lord Rubuni from now on, almost makes me want to throw my laptop across the living room. It’s been a long time since I’ve heard such a ferocious and blackened gang, for review anyway. Superlatives simply fall short, but I’ll try. Dirty, greasy and unholy of an almost inhuman level, this band cracks and molests everyone’s eardrums. We’re very excited, in case it wasn’t already clear.
With The Faithless, the band starts with acoustic guitar playing and then immediately releases Lord Rubini from his cage. Dark riffing, hyper-fast blasts and various forms of melody complete the extreme chaos. This is terrorizing Danish black metal that defies and challenges everyone. Lotan apparently doesn’t care one bit, we must and will get this into the brain! The closing Leviathan is an ode to Leviathan (a.k.a. Lotan) with waves of the sea and greasy riffs. The drummer smashes everything to smithereens, sometimes temporized and sometimes fast as lightning. One more time we can enjoy the hellish voice until an extremely dark ending mysteriously closes this record.
As we read back in the promo, we can now only confirm; the seven-headed dragon is reborn! And that pretty much says it all. Oh no, one more thing, this is year list material without any doubt.
Score:
93/100
Label:
Uprising Records, 2023
Tracklisting:
1. Diabolis Victor
2. Ignis
3. Ashera
4. Ishtar
5. Servant Of Yammu
6. The Faithless
7. Leviathan
Line-up:
- Phillip Kaaber – Gitaren
- Martin Rubini – Vocalen
- Lasse Guldbæk Jensen – Bas
- Jon Schmidt – Drums
- Andy Dragsberg – Gitaren
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