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Lost Eden

Cycle Repeats

Written by: PP on 29/05/2007 12:36:21

What happens when five young Japanese musicians grow up listening to records by In Flames and, more recently, Trivium? Japanese Metalcore. Lost Eden's debut album "Cycle Repeats" pays such heavy tribute to the two aforementioned bands that it is occasionally difficult to see the band's own identity, and consequently makes it a difficult review. Am I meant to reward them for being instrumental virtuosos like Trivium and In Flames, or am I meant to bash them with yet another tired statement such as 'metalcore is dying and their album sounds tired and cliché'? I think the only right approach in Lost Eden's case is a mixture of both, because while they certainly have given "Ascendancy" a few too many spins, the majority of their songwriting is good and the arrangements work in their favour.

Basically, if you are as pissed off as I am about Trivium's decision to disregard screaming from their new album, you may well find "Cycle Repeats" as the album you wanted Trivium to write instead. The guitars give a big nod towards Gothenburg-inspired melodic death metal, while frontman Norio screams like Heafy in the old days. The drums are thumping, the solos are blazing and there are plenty of atmospheric clean singing choruses in the vein of "Pull Harder.." to have you singing along while light keyboards provide a distinct Japanese overtone to it all. The breakdowns are brutal, and it is especially in the heavier moments where vocalist Norio shines, when he extends his already competent screams into prolonged shrieks that pull the carpet from underneath the likes of Heafy. It is these moments that give Lost Eden some distance to statements like their music is unoriginal and boring, simply because these parts work so well in the whole melodeath context.

"Cycle Repeats" might not be re-inventing the wheel for metalcore, but yet it never feels predictable, even if you can't help but think In Flames and Trivium on every single song of theirs. Their approach is not much unlike Enter My Silence on their masterpiece "Coordinate: D1SA5ST3R" last year, as you will no doubt notice on "Equation 999" among other tracks, making it difficult to pick out just a single highlight because there are so many, as just about every song is able to stand on its own and impress you with its robust screaming and overly melodic guitars. But still, you can't help but down grade the band a notch for sounding just a tad bit too much like their exemplars.

Download: Equation 999, Squeeze, Planetoid
For the fans of: Trivium, Enter My Silence, In Flames
Listen: Myspace

Release date 13.03.2007
Candlelight
Provided by Target ApS