Impressions: Lantlôs' Agape

Lantlos exist as the exception to the current wave of post black metal spewing forth from the underground. Consisting of Neige (Alcest, Forgotten Woods, Peste Noire) and Herbst (Epitaph, Impavida), Lantlos exists as a post black metal band that doesn't necessarily need the genre tag. They have always forged their own path within the world of black metal, and have done their best not to repeat themselves. Recently the duo released their new album Agape, via Lupus Lounge.

Being a fan of the last two Lantlos albums gave me some pretty high expectations for Agape and while I think this album fits into the band's discography thematically and sonically, I don't consider this their best output. Let me break it down like this; the last two Lantlos albums (Lantlos and .Neon) were black metal at its most expansive, vast, and fragile. Neige and Herbst injected so much tortured beauty into those two albums, and after listening to Agape four or fives times it seems as though they might have run out of gas.

This is not to say that Agape is a waste of time, not in the slightest. I guess what I'm trying to say is that Agape sounds a little confused. There are moments of genius peppered throughout Agape, but they are short glimpses at what the album could have been, and ultimately they left me feeling a little short changed. The biggest problem with this new material is its pacing; the whole record suffers from an odd pacing that interrupts the flow of  its tracks. This is also a pretty short album, running only 35 minutes (pretty short for a bm album), that is largely ambient.

Overall I would only suggest grabbing a copy of Agape if you understand what you are going to get. This is not the best bm album of 2011, but it is far from the worst. Worthy of your time? Yes. Worthy of your money? Probably not.

Lantlos - Bliss

DL