June 8, 2018

Lovebites - Battle Against Damnation (Review)

I listen a lot to Eastern metal music and I noticed one interesting regularity: first two releases are done purely on one inspiration. And then, when the inspiration is exhausted, only abilities remain. So it was with many bands: Area51, Albion, Light Bringer, Galmet, Lujaneeza, Deluhi, Undivide, Plasmajet, Aftermath, Sweets Domination - I can go on for a very long time. This bands of different genres, different skill levels, different fame levels. But all of them are united by one thing: first two releases make a big bet on emotions, and the next - a continuous routine. And some even ceased to exist at all (for example, Raglaia or Inherited Truth).

My Rating: 77/100

Why did I remember this regularity? Because in this release the flaws in their strategy begin to emerge. There is already starting to be noticed some pattern. And it was composed after the wave of the first two releases. Coincidence? Yes, this is not an ordinary copy-paste - much has been done admirably. But when you release a lot of songs in one year, then later the creative flow will decrease. Disadvantages begin with an illogical cover art. And this continues on naming - it seems that only first two tracks were unique, and the rest is a slightly modified continuation of second track.

As for composer's work, everything has been done wonderfully, but more stereotypedness begins to appear. Previous releases were aimed at influencing emotions - it turned out perfectly. But now, when emotions are gone, routine begins. Well, creative people are therefore called creative, which can make everything unique and interesting. But the creative reserve was spent last year and now it was not possible to overcome the fall completely after the take-off. No, I don't want to say anything bad - composer is a very talented person. But no matter how talented composer, only one person on Earth possible to consistently produce two and more high-quality and unique metal release in a year (without consequences), - "Iron" Chino.

Vocal parts suddenly became monotonous. If full-length has revealed all vocalist's delights, then now I don't hear anything interesting. Nevertheless, it's worth noting that much work has been done on the errors. It's hard to see progress, but still it's noticeable. Yes, I will be very bored by the emotional cries from first MV.

Instrumental parts are a mixture of tremolo, triplets, fifths chord and patterned scales. That's all. Yes, we hear an interesting melodic construction in first track. Yes, we hear thrash metal in style of late Overkill in second track. Yes, there is a moderate amount of synthesizer, which emphasizes some segments. But in the rest - a continuous stream of boredom, which we heard back in the 80's. Here we again hear a standard guitar / bass tuning - here for more than 20 years nothing new has been invented. Approximately the same situation with rhythm section. Bass parts are standard - these are just the tonic from guitar riffs that create groove construction. Drums still trying to somehow portray diversity - affects the high skill level. But in general, there is nothing interesting in rhythm section either.

What can you say at the end? There is a high skill level. But I'm disappointed. Girls have chosen popularity due to repetition of successful patterns and lyrics on English - it has long been noticeable. But if first two releases put pressure on emotions, then now the charm of eastern beauties has passed. And now their material is just the consequences of routine work. Something early they approached their limit, I thought it would be later. And this is the main mistake of composer and manager - to release quickly and a lot. And I'm willing to bet that if this release was released in September (not in June), then there would be fewer standard ideas. But still it is worth acknowledging that they did right and good, and this is very rare in our time. But in America, where they are so eager to get into, there are already enough similar band - someone would explain it to them. I don't know what will happen before an understanding of this fact comes. Well, the third release is already visible to their limits.