Livløs return with their third album.
Recently signed to Noctum Productions, the band comprising Franz Posch (guitar), Kenneth Breinbjerg (guitar), Thomas Dannemand (drums), Niklas Lykke (vocals) and Benjamin “Atlas” Andreassen (bass) unveil in 2024 The Crescent King, illustrated by Eliran Kantor (Ex Deo, Gaerea, Incantation, Kreator, Satan, Sigh, The Spirit, Testament…).
Solstice opens the doors with an ominous softness, which transforms into a solid but still melodious rhythm, but the sound soon stops to make way for Orbit Weaver, where the vocal parts appear. The jerky rhythm and intricate leads blend naturally into this dark, Old School-influenced atmosphere, and then it’s with a heady tapping that The Crescent King, the eponymous track, greets us to present its majestic riffs. The track’s slowness makes it particularly haunting, perfectly in tune with the atmosphere suggested by the title, while at times placing a few well-felt accelerations to punctuate the march to Maelstrom, where the harmonic jolts serve the track perfectly. The atmosphere the band creates is relatively heavy, but there are a few more energetic passages, just like on Usurpers, which follows with ferocious Thrash influences to complement the sharp Melodic Death that sometimes adopts more complex patterns. Aggression subsides in the opening moments of Scourge of the Stars, but comes back even stronger with the hectic groove to which the band exposes us, as well as with that long final solo, then the darkness returns with Harvest, where we first find touches of anguish in the slowness. The rhythm section then flares up again, eventually returning to its initial pace, before giving way to Solace, where melancholy tinges are followed by ritualistic percussion and intriguing choirs, leading into Throne of Cosm, where the contrast is more present than ever. The rhythm section proves lively, but the haunting guitars calm things down before the final takes us to Endless Majesty, where grandiose riffs rub shoulders with pure rage for a final dose of its bewitching duality that can’t fail to convince you to join the band during the most unifying passages.
Once again, Livløs offers a perfectly balanced blend of aggression and compelling melodies. The Crescent King injects its Melodic Death with influences, making it one of this year’s must-haves!
95/100