Greetings tech fiends, it's that time of the week again. Before we dive into today's column, here's the usual weekly reminder that if you're looking to find even more sick bands, you can do so here.
In the fall of 2019, one of the guest musicians on Monotheist's Scourge, Danny Jacob (who performed flute on a few songs, and guest lead guitar on one song) hit me up regarding his long-running project, Lamentations. We went on to premiere the song “Anew” that year for this column, after its premiere, Willowtip founder Jason Tipton reached out, as he was as excited about the caliber of music on that song as I was. A few years later and the band recently signed with Willowtip Records and their sophomore album, Passion of Depression, is set to drop on November 11.
It’s always a good feeling to see great bands you love to go and join forces with a great label that’s passionate about every release they put out. So to help promote the new Lamentations album, we’re premiering “Ire” today. There are a few important things to explain from the get-go, one of which is that Lamentations has recruited most of the line-up for Monotheist on Passion of Depression which sort of adds a Monotheist vibe at times throughout the album if you're familiar with that band. If you're not, you need to catch up as they're awesome. While Danny Jacob is the bandleader and main songwriter on Passion of Depression, I’ve learned from numerous behind-the-scenes videos on social media that he gave everyone who contributed to the release plenty of creative freedom to write and create their parts in their own voice. The end result of that approach somehow isn’t one where there are too many cooks in the kitchen so to speak, as Passion of Depression flourishes thanks to its eclectic genre-hopping nature and extensive roster of both killer core musicians and high-profile guest musicians bringing their own styles into the release. The full line-up for the release can be viewed here.
When it comes to what “Ire” has in store, this is one of the most aggressive and shred-heavy songs on the album, though the prog-death spirit at the core of their sound is still present (beyond its occurrence in some of the songs riffs) in the keyboards, bass, and clean singing that adds that extra oomph elevating this beyond your standard tech-death track. Although their heady mix of progressive death metal, melodic death metal, prog metal, and technical death metal is all on display here, this is just one glimpse into what Lamentations has to offer when it comes to how they mix and match between these different sounds, and as such I’ve linked to the other singles below for those who wish to dive further into the band's new album.
After taking in Passion of Depression as a whole numerous times at this point, I think the best way to explain it is Extol-inspired prog-death spliced with Death melodies and Suffocation brutality accompanied by Opeth and Cynic influences coursing through its veins. The band also lists The Faceless and Black Crown Initiate among bands the music on the album will appeal to. I know late in the year releases sometimes don’t get as much love as they should, but trust me when I say this is an album you won’t want to miss out on. It’s a fucking fantastic journey from start to finish and I know many of you will feel the same way I do about it.
For more information regarding “Ire”, Lamentations guitarist Danny Jacob shared with us that “Ire is the shortest and heaviest song on the album, yet it retains all of the qualities that make Lamentations like Lamentations, the powerful melodies, the soaring vocals, and the melodic riffs. This song in particular is inspired by Progressive Death Metal Bands from the 2000s, with a little bit of Immolation heaviness for good measure. Ethan McKenna of Black Crown Initiate is featured on the track with a prodigious guitar solo. Lyrically, the song vividly depicts a seething rage born out of the fall of long-held beliefs and the desperate feelings that come about thereafter.”
You can check out Lamentations' “Ire” below and if you’re interested in hearing more of the album's versatile approaches to mixing prog-death and tech-death together, you can check out “Prodigal” and the 2019 version of “Anew” as well. Pre-orders for Lamentations' Passion of Depression are available here and here. You can follow the group through their Facebook Page and Instagram Page.
