Höst has found its cruising speed.
After a short career in Sweden between 1994 and 1997, Filip Leo (guitar/bass/vocals, ex-Corporation 187) revives his project in 2020. An EP will be released the same year, followed by an album and a second EP in 2022, then the musician announces the release of Nightmares and Goals, his second album. The musician is accompanied by Pehr Severin (ex-Corporation 187) on vocals and Nir Nakav (Tomorrow’s Rain, Salem) on drums.
Nightmares and Goals lets us enter this universe carved by Melodic Death but also by dark Gothic Metal influences. Tortured vocals perfectly fit with these heady sounds which drive us to The Final March, a more melancholic track which keeps its aggressive sounds and sharp riffs before letting clean choirs integrate the slow and haunting progression. Rage resurfaces on War, a much more raw and lively composition which lets blast mix with Old School riffs and sharp screams without forgetting the more soaring elements which make the mix strong, just like As It Is, As It Was and its hypnotic harmonics. The federative chorus makes you want to scream along with the band, making this track one of the most suitable for a live performance, while Ashes From A Plague comes back with jerky and raw sounds while integrating a sometimes Hardcore-like vocal. The melting remains very effective thanks to the contrast with the soaring melodies, then melancholy resurfaces on This Is The End, a catchy but rather cold track which lets heady leads carry us in their dark march. The final will be slightly more haunting, then Spring also unveils soaring and melodious harmonics to fuel this soothing and rhythmic instrumental track before No More Lies starts with clapping. The slow, throbbing rhythm lets sharp leads meet tortured vocal parts, allowing the song to remain fairly constant until the rawer final which drives us to As Long As We Don’t Hear and its distant sweetness. Cold sound and distant vocals explore the band’s Gothic/Doom influences for a moment of pure melancholy then Last Song returns to the sharper tones to close the album with that abrasive contrast to the Death Metal roots.
Although Nightmares and Goals is only Höst‘s second album, the band is anchored in a mix of Melodic Death with soaring Gothic influences which already has proven itself in other bands. The album is still very pleasant to listen to.
75/100