Reviews: Long Distance Calling, Armortura, Lyra's Legacy (Reviews By Rich)

Instrumental post-rock. Those words can either mean you are in for an epic musical journey or a tedious listening experience. Luckily with the sixth album by Germany’s Long Distance Calling it is far more enjoyable than tedious. With the introduction of a full time vocalist on their fourth album The Flood Inside Long Distance Calling did lose a bit of their identity but they have gone to a back to basics approach with Boundless which is a purely instrumental album. The band know their craft and have released an album which blurs the line between post-rock and progressive rock deftly mixing atmosphere, emotion and sonic devastation in a single track such as in album opener Out There.

Other tracks of particular note include Like A River with it’s almost Spaghetti Western twang about it, Weightless which starts off sounding like classic Pink Floyd before a crushing sludge metal riff devastates all in its path and personal favourite Ascending which has a hauntingly melancholic melody throughout its duration. Boundless isn’t a perfect album with a handful of songs failing to make an impression but Long Distance Calling have proven that their back to basics approach is effective and they can function easily without a vocalist in their ranks. 7/10

Armortura: Armortura (Mighty Music)

Being released through Danish label Mighty Music is the debut self titled album by UK thrashers Armortura. Taking influence from classic 80’s thrash metal but adding in influences from modern metal Armortura have released a fantastic album which should definitely gain them attention and praise throughout 2018. It’s an album with plenty of savage riffings, twin lead harmonies, plenty of melody and a few twists and turns to keep the listener engaged. Highlights throughout the album include Insidious, Flight 19, 11th Hour and closing epic Requiem Of The Damned. If you have the edition with the bonus track you get treated to a remixed version of 11th Hour with none other than the legendary Jeff Waters of Annihilator providing some fretboard fireworks. 

The guitar playing throughout the album is second to none and high praise must go to Paul Trotter and Adam Ironside for their sterling performances on the album. The rhythm section of bassist Steve Smart and drummer Nick Vickers also put in commanding performances and the vocals by frontman Phillip Brown are snarling and aggressive reminding me a lot of Sean Killian from Vio-Lence. Armortura have impressed with their debut album which thrashes hard but also has plenty of melody to appeal to your more mainstream leaning metaller. A fantastic debut! 8/10

Lyra’s Legacy: Prisoner (Roll The Bones Records)

Another debut album and this time it’s by German melodic metallers Lyra’s Legacy with the release of Prisoner. It’s taken a while for the band to get this debut album out having been in existence for 10 years but happily the album was worth the wait. Lyra’s Legacy have a sound which combines elements of melodic heavy metal, power metal and progressive metal. After an epic symphonic intro things really kick into gear with the powerful Reign Of Greed which has the band firing on all cylinders. Other highlights throughout the album include Hero Of The Night, Misguided, Utopia and the brilliant title track. 

The songs range from the mid paced to the speedy to almost ballad-esque moments. The fantastic keyboard playing by Sven Reinicke really add a progressive edge to the album whilst special mention must go to vocalist Christian Casaccia for his impressive powerhouse vocals. This is a very enjoyable album with some fantastic songs but especially in the last half of the album some of the songs aren’t as strong and fall by the wayside. This is one for fans of melodic metal with a progressive edge. If bands such as Vanden Plas, Pagan’s Mind and Tad Morose are your thing then definitely give this album a spin. 7/10