Lord of the Lost – Thornstar

[schema type=”review” name=”Lord of the Lost – Thornstar” description=”Label: Napalm Records” author=”Tim Will” pubdate=”2018-08-06″ ]

When thinking of the way the band Lord of the Lost made so far, I can’t help but feel a weird sense of pride for them. Not because they’re also from Hamburg or because I had any hand in their success. But because I feel like I’ve been there since the beginning, when they were this little obscure Industrial-Rock-Band that all young goth girls had a crush on. Until today, where they have become one of the biggest and one of the mayor players in the German goth scene, … whilst still being crushed on by fangirls.

Even though I liked their early albums fine, my personal breakthrough with them, came with their last album “Empyrean” in 2016, which was one of my favorite albums of that year! Last month their new album “Thornstar” was released and I was curious if they could reach that high bar, they set for themselves.
As with all albums of the band, it took me some time to get into the songs and to find which hook me and which I rather skip. Some actually hooked me instantly after the first listening, like the opening track “On This Rock I Will Build My Church” and “Haythor” which I incidentally find to be the strongest songs on the album and which were fittingly pre-released as singles with music-videos. Among those which hooked me in time were the melodic, yet powerful “Forevermore” and “Under The Sun” and the doom-esque, slow burning “Naxxar”.
Most of the remaining songs on the regular album are unfortunately pretty underwhelming. They’re not “bad” per se, but they often feel pretty generic to me and some of them, like “Black Halo” and “Cut Me Out” actually come of as kinda sappy and even whiny sometimes. “Morgana” was also a pre-released single, yet it’s one of the weakest songs in my opinion and I find myself skipping over it, with every listening.

With that said, the bonus-CD/LP that comes with the limited deluxe edition, actually has some great songs too. The aggressive “Lily Of The Vale”, “Penta” and especially “Live Pray Die Repeat” are even better than a lot of the tracks on the “regular” album and should have been included. There’s also “Abracadabra”; a cooperation with the German industrial-metal legends Oomph! and a song I really hope they’re gonna play live, because it’s actually a great headbanger. These songs are amazing and I have no idea, why they only included them in the deluxe-edition. But then again I’m glad we got them at all, because they turn an otherwise mediocre album into a great one.

To be fair: Most of this probably comes down to personal preference, as I tend to prefer the more aggressive and angry side of Lord of the Lost. Which is probably also why I prefer their last album “Empyrean” over the new one, as it had a more aggressive tone, while I would describe the tone of “Thornstar” as more emotional. Which of course is also fine, as I’m sure there are fans who prefer this (In fact: I know. I talked to some fans).
So, if you’re a Lord of the Lost fan, I definitively recommend you give “Thornstar” a listen and pick your cherries! I certainly did.

Line up:
Chris Harms – Vocals, Guitar, Cello
π – Guitar
Class Grenayde – Bass
Gared Dirge – Piano, Synthesizer, Percussion, Guitar
Niklas Kahl – Drums

CD1 01. On This Rock I Will Build My Church 02. Loreley 03. Black Halo 04. In Our Hands 05. Morgana 06. Haythor 07. Naxxar 08. Cut Me Out 09. The Mortarian 10. Under The Sun 11. In Darkness, In Light 12. Forevermore 13. Ruins CD2 1. Abracadabra (feat. Dero Goi / OOMPH!) 2. Voodoo Doll 3. The Art Of Love 4. Lily Of The Vale 5. Penta 6. Free Radicals 7. Live Pray Die Repeat

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