#Lotan Lotan
Band: Lotan
Title: Lotan
Label: Uprising! Records
Release date: 31 March 2023
Country: Denmark
Format reviewed: High-quality Digital Recording
I must admit it: it was the cover art that made me listen to this album. I mean, look at this seven-headed dragon, it’s fantastic, frightening, and all these details… It’s a sick piece of art done by the Danish tattoo artist and painter David Troest. As it is stated in Bandcamp, “Lotan (Leviathan) is the seven headed dragon and the origin of chaos who began a war against the cosmic order and gods of Mesopotamia.” After admiring the cover for a while I went into the music. And so glad that I did, yeah, ‘cause the debut album by Lotan is something really good…
First calmed piano notes in “Diabolis Victor” will allow you to be prepared for what come next: a sudden explosion, all instruments and the fierce vocals setting the pace for a 6 minute first raid that sometimes is full of melody, and at some passages it can create both a storm and a calmer atmosphere. Very good starting.
I really like the aggressive vocals in these songs. Martin Rubini is great at it, and it turns out that he is also the vocalist (and former drummer) in Vanir. Another member in Lotan, guitar player Philip Kaaber, is also in Vanir. The other band members are: Jon Elmquist Schmidt (drums), Andy Dragsberg (guitars) and Lasse Guldbæk Jensen (bass). This 5 piece band delivers a varied repertoire of Black Metal riffs and melodies, and as I said, vocals are like an assault to your ears. Starting with “Diabolis Victor”, you can notice that the instruments are well mixed, oh well if you say that sometimes it’s like a rumbling wall of sound it’s just because everyone is playing their instrument hard n’loud!
“Ignis” comes next and yes, you are right: this track burns like fire. I’d like to be better at understanding the lyrics but I’m not. The only thing I know is that they talk about Mesopotamian myths and some philosophical themes. But I like how this song is built upon drums that are constantly changing the tempos, and the main riff (almost) constantly buzzing.
Sometimes I’m in awe of how extremely rough Rubini can be at vocals, as in “Ashera”. And the beginning of “Ishtar” definitely took me by surprise, it seems like a repetitive chant invoking some god. Still three more tracks to go in which you’ll find all those aforementioned elements. “Leviathan” is the closing and it’s fierce and obscure, riffs are played with a heavy metallic sound and the two harsh vocals makes it even more threatening.
My main impression is that Lotan (a quite new band, it was formed in 2020) is a band with a powerful debut album, and with great potential, I’m sure we’ll hear a lot about them in the future.
I give this 7,5/10 Sílvia
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7,5/10 Victory is possible
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