"Shapes
of Screams perfectly demonstrates the high quality of
music that this magical music trio are capable of producing."
Majestic harmonised' vocals,
shredding guitar work and a delivery that leaves you begging for more, it can
only be another cracking album from the Derby-trio LostAlone with their latest release 'Shapes of Screams'. Brace
yourself for a rollercoaster of emotion as the band bring a whole new meaning
to the term epic.
Two years after their
previous release 'I'm a UFO In This City' , LostAlone
have seen nothing but constant runs of success, with support slots on some of
the big names in the industry at the minute; My Chemical Romance, Evanescence, Enter Shikari and Paramore to
name a few. The group most recently came off tour being main support to The Blackout through January and
February before shifting their focus to the release of their forthcoming album.
The album itself was produced by Dan Weller who also has a strong CV including Enter Shikari and Young Guns. On
their previous tours the band have been debuting songs from the album
progressively, these tracks include 'The
Bellls! The Bells!!' , 'Crusaders'
and 'G.U.I.L.T.Y.'
"The overriding theme of the record is 'time and lock of it' of destiny and of legacy played by a band pushing themselves to a collective limit and then passing that limit" - Steven Battelle (Vocalist and Guitar) comments.
This album really does take the listener on a dramatic journey through 'Shapes of Screams', opening up with the song 'Crusaders' which stars on a clean guitar chord intro with Battelle singing along in sweet harmony to the chords. The lyrics take us on a trip of self-appreciation and discovery with the line 'You'll only find yourself if you let go.' The song progresses from a slow beat to a fast paced chorus with the help of bassist Alan Williamson's bass grooves and drummer Mark Gibson.
The next track was the first
single from the album, 'The Bells! The
Bells!!' is probably the heaviest song on the album, opening with the
chimes of church bells before the band erupt into the song with ferocious
attitude. Strong vocal lines come together on this track with powerful lyrics
including 'Everybody hopes for change but they don't know what to change about
themselves.' The song falls into a solo that brings everything together before
a climatic finish.
'Hostages' opens up the next string which is a song with a bed of
dramatic strings in the background mixed with Battelle's vocals leading the song like an army's charge with
chorus lyrics including 'We are hostages of our own attack, and the consequence
there's no turning back, as we guard ourselves we were born to lead not
follow'. The song has a great anthem like vibe to it which is matched perfectly
by the sweeping solo that explodes out of the quiet ambience.
'Sombre Party' is the following sing which is the most pop like on
the album which is a song focusing on the issues of questioning life choices
'We're afraid to love or is our love afraid' and our restrictions on ourselves
'We're a consequence of our fears and doubts...If you trust in fate our
future's already made.' It's rocky, pop and just a
damn good song.
The next song on the album is
more recognisable to LostAlone fans
who have seen them live in the last two years as 'G.U.I.L.T.Y.' is chanted out by the band - this song can easily
demonstrate the band's love for structure and progression throughout the song
as well as harmonies being a huge part on the song - drawing on Queen's material it may seem.
'Mental Health' is a more reflective song for Steven Battelle, reflecting on his past through the lyrics
including 'When you're down and crying out for help, you've got to lose yourself
inside your illusion commenting on the song:
"It's a strong title to
put on a record, but it came from a real honest place... it's me being honest,
and this is painfully clear what I'm saying and the music reflects it. Talking
about when I felt I'd completely lost my mind"
With the next track 'Apathy' we see bassist Alan Williamson taking a strong
presence on this song as the bass progresses through the song, the chorus is an
undeniable hook which implants itself in your brain and stays there for the
next few days
'Scarlett Letter Rhymes' is a return to the band's heavier side of
the band, starting with a arpeggio chord progression before the pure brute
force from the distortion driven bass and crashing drums destroy the tranquillity.
The song just has pure awesomeness written all over it, however the lyrics are
quite something to get your head around; 'The rhythms of life are not
syncopated, a hurricane strike is a fate worth sailing on a fictional tide
for.'
'I Was Born To End This Way' takes us back to the rock-pop aspect
that LostAlone heavily draw upon
when writing. An upbeat guitar and synth combo combined with Alan Williamson's bass gives the song a
strong body making the song an enjoyable song to listen to.
'Requiem' begins with a choir chanting in harmony with one another
soon followed by the band's presence. The choir's vocals are an underlying
audio bed in this song which is key to this song, and it definitely brings a
homely feel to the song which brings positives feelings all around, 'I don't
feel real, I don't feel distrust in my heartbeat. Everybody wants to know that
there's a reason, everybody wants the world to hear their requiem'
If the song wasn't cool
enough, 'Doooooooooomagedon (Global
Thermonuclear Metafictional Warfare)' is a song which has a chant similar
to that of a tribe fighting march call and it packs a punch with the head
bobbing rythym, strongly lead by Mark
Gibson's drumming. This song is a great closing song for the album to fade
out on.
To close the albun 'Breathing in The Future, Exhaling The Past'
once again slowly eases into the song with a choir chanting, and quite fitting
it ends with Battelle's preaching
lyrical wisdom (even more of it?) and ends the album on an emotional end which
leaves you wanting to play the album once more.
In conclusion this album is
simply fantastic, whether you're a fan of the band already or a person
listening to the band for the first time, Shapes of Screams perfectly
demonstrates the high quality of music that this magical music trio are capable
of producing. This album deserves all the praise it has gotten so far and 2014
will be the year of LostAlone. Excellent work guys.
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