Loch Vostok and two smoking barrels
'Destruction Time Again' sat discarded on my shelf after a couple of initial listens awaiting the attention each album deserves. It was with a sense of foreboding that was my bedfellow as I picked up the new Loch Vostok CD again to give it a second chance before I put fingers to keys. Too be honest, from the first outings 'Destruction Time Again' failed to grab me, it sounded too much of a mix of metal styles, attempting to appeal to everyone but in the end appealing to no one. But a week is a long time in aural appreciation and the first few spins of 'Destruction Time Again' must have sewn a seed in my subconscious. Returning to the disk after a little time out I couldn't believe it was the same album. There was melody where I hadn't heard melody before, catchy riffs where I had heard just noise and innovation where there was repetition.
I've been caught off guard several times by records that didn't grab me first time round and then ended up finally hitting the spot (Celtic Frost's 'Nemesis' being a particular example). Whether it was because I'd moved on musically, or it clicked by myself associating it with something else in my life. Sometimes it takes days, months, even years, but thankfully in this instance just over a week. 'Destruction Time Again,' is varied, innovative and experimental. A slick sounding album with great musicianship and meritorious vocals.
Imagine if you will, a knife fight between a progressive metal band, a power metal band, a death metal band and a hard rock band. Several stabbings later there's one member of each band left who decide to reconcile their differences and form another metal band. 'Destruction Time Again' could very well be the brainchild of such a gang-fight fallout. However, the violent analogy does highlight the diversity of the music, the mix in styles and the choppy feel of the album. It maybe a little too much to stomach for some metal lovers especially is you prefer one type of music over another. Loch Vostok have the ability to throw musical passages around like confetti. They may start with an extreme blast beat and death metal growls, but within a couple of bars the band have broken into a Dream Theater style instrumental break. Strict fans of extreme music will no doubt find this irritating, prog fans will love the break but hate the musical passage preceding it.
The constant changing of style is probably the reason why the album didn't click with me first time. I'm a fan of all of the aforementioned genre's, so when I finally understood the album, the changing nature of the music was no longer an irritation. I began to appreciate the clever breaks and solos as each song satisfied a certain aspect of my musical needs. Those who want a barrage of constant brutal death then forget it. Anyone looking to find some long-winded soloing better look somewhere else. This is an album with little bites of everything with the added bonus that most of these little sound bites are great ideas.
The production perhaps lets down 'Destruction Time Again.' It certainly isn't bad production, it's slick and tidy, but the whole experience would benefit from a fraction more meat in the guitars and a little less keyboards in the mix. (Either that or chop his hands off...an argument for all 'permanent' keyboard players in metal. Or even replace them with laptops, this way they can't complain when you turn them down in the mix) At present it has a lightweight power metal feel about it, similar to Freedom Call or early Edguy. Not that there's anything wrong with this of course. I'd rather hear a tidy production than a messy earache inducing racket. But a heavier sound would perhaps benefit the impact of Loch Vostok's extreme side, as well as adding that extra edge to the lighter side of the band.
It would take all day to list the stand out ideas on this album and which sections sound like which band, but suffice to say each song has its own strengths. 'Jonestown Slumber Party' and the title track are perhaps the most instantly likeable, yet it was the schizophrenic drumming of Alvaro Torres and the versatile vocals of Teddy Moller that stood out for me. Teddy's vocals not only sound great when growled like Jari Maenpaa, but also sound convincing when falsettoed like Tobias Sammet and power sung like Ben Huggins of Galactic Cowboys fame.
As already mentioned before, this isn't an album for everyone, and it may not grab you immediately. It may be worth giving it a few spins first, and then locking it in a cupboard for a few weeks, or even a Blue Peter style time-capsule and burying it in soft peat for a year or two. After you've decided to give the album another go, dig it up or take it from the cupboard and then put it in your CD player at a neighbour-annoyingly loud volume. With metal becoming fat with metal-core and melodic death metal style bands, Loch Vostok's diversity makes for a refreshing listen. So if you take a chance and buy it and then don't like it, don't say I didn't warn you. Spellbinding.