Let’s follow The Last of Lucy’s evolution.
Two years after their return, the band comprising Gad Gidon (guitar), Josh de la Sol (vocals, Asura), Derek Santistevan (bass) and Josef Hossain-Kay (drums) unveil Godform, their third studio album, on Transcending Obscurity Records.
The album opens with Wormhole, an immediate reminder of the band’s riffs’ violence and complexity. Unbridled blasts and piercing riffs mingle with infernal vociferations to create a breathless torrent of fury that hosts the occasional effective moshpart before giving way to Empyreal Banisher, where heaviness adds to the already explosive mix. An ominous but calmer break tempers the wave of convoluted ferocity, before the band take off again at full speed with Twin Flame, a track with leads probably influenced by extraterrestrial forces and overdriven tapping. The calm jazz-like parts and saxophone barely soothe us, before the short Shedim Seance hypnotizes us to strike continuously, taking advantage of an oppressive dissonance to shade its power. Sanguinary Solace follows with a similar approach, featuring uncompromising riffs while the vocalist ardently vociferates, as on Sentinel Codex, where tortured lead spikes compete with the jerky rhythm. The impressive vocal parts literally dictate the pace right up to the abrupt final, which leads into Darkest Night of the Soul and its heart-rending melodies that crash against a sometimes groovy, but always catchy basis. A new eruption of controlled brutality on Angelic Gateway, a track punctuated by technical pauses that passes very quickly, then it’s with Anima Flux that the band takes on the task of breaking our necks, linking moshparts with knockout breaks, but the album is already reaching its final moments with the vindictive Godform, which makes you want to throw yourself into the pit for any kind of physical exercise, with the only respite being this short, mystical and mysterious passage.
The Last of Lucy keep their madness, but they have reinforced their punch and technicality with Godform. The album goes by far too quickly, but the leads are so well crafted that you just can’t get enough of them!
90/100