LEPROUS

Leprous' Most Emotionally Lush Album.

Along with just a handful of bands all over the world, Leprous is one of the game-changing legacy-carriers of Progressive Metal. Their style is distinct, but unafraid of revealing influences such as Pain Of Salvation. Behind their backs, they only have three albums; the debut, "Aeolia", is somewhat of a forgotten LP, but the latter two are the main reason the band is now at the center of the stage for many Metal and Progheads. 2011's "Bilateral", album number three, is most definitely the most ground-breaking and mature, and stood out as one of the key albums of this new wave of Prog Metal.

"Coal", against most odds, maintains almost all of the "Bilateral" qualities intact. It blends the same ingredients, and molds them with a new formula. The most noticeable new change is how the band has put Einar Solberg's voice even more up-front than usual: he sings almost all over the place, delivering beautiful, extended falsetto vocals, as well as melodic phrases that serve a given song as a completely independent additional instrument. In songs like "Echo" and "Foe", it is most apparent. This is for the most part Einar's album, even because the keyboards have most definitely toned-down, resulting in an overall drier atmosphere. This is not necessarily a fault of course, since Leprous' intent naturally was to craft something punchier, more straight-forward and song-based, rather than a moody album.

This leads to the song-writing. Looking back at 2009's "Tall Poppy Syndrome", it is amazing to see how far ahead they've brought themselves since. There is not one single track that fails. "Foe" starts the album off perfectly, boasting one of the most memorable and relevant vocal performances by Solberg; "Chronic" and the title track are easily the busiest and heaviest tracks, showcasing incredible interplay and progressive song structures; "The Cloak" and "Salt" are calmer pieces, both of them strategically well-placed throughout the album, as they generate a nice change of pace for the LP's momentum. "The Valley" is a long-winded, multi-faceted masterpiece, with perhaps one of the best hooks that the band has ever come up with; "Echo" is of a similar nature, but with a much more dramatic, slow tone to it. It is by far, the moodier and more emotional piece of the album, which is saying a lot. The album ends on a very heavy note, with guest vocalist Ihsahn killing it with one of his most fear-inducing performances: "Contaminate Me" is a throw-back to the band's more extreme roots, ?as a matter of fact Leprous used to be Ihsahn's backing band- nevertheless Leprous is able to sound as if it was brought up in a new, original fashion.

"Coal" comes so near to the levels of "Bilateral", and is once again striking proof that Leprous are one of the very best Metal bands out there. The best part of it is that they sound as if something even greater will eventually be in the works.

It now seems strange to think there was a time I didn't understand the hype and excitement surrounding Leprous. Their first full-fledged foray into album-making, "Tall Poppy Syndrome" was met with some pretty wild acclaim in progressive metal circles. Though I was impressed with their skill and musicality, I was left wanting for a more distinct, unique style of progressive metal. Though I was certain that the band would improve and refine their craft, nothing could have however prepared me for "Bilateral". As if my imaginary Leprous wishlist had been thoroughly studied and referenced, the band's second album marked a large step towards more experimental territory and a sound of their own. Two years since its release, "Bilateral" has become one of my favourite-ever albums, and that's a big part of why I was so anxious to hear "Coal". My excitement aside, Leprous seem to have been up to some great things in the past two years; with their third record, they have fostered an even more distinctive style for themselves. Evolving their sound once again, Leprous are proving with each new album that they are the greatest band of the new progressive metal wave.

Though I've never once had the fleeting impression that Leprous might follow up "Bilateral" with a subpar album, I was self-aware of the exceedingly high standard I would hold the new record up to. After hearing "Coal", it seems impossible to meaningfully compare the two albums. Leprous have once again maintained an incredibly high musical standard, with regards to both the composition and execution. However, though it's clear that "Coal" is cut from the same cloth as "Bilateral", the tone and mood have evolved significantly. While the second album revelled in being all-over-the-place and pleasantly quirky, "Coal" puts a much greater emphasis on atmosphere and focused compositions. There remains a playful, catchy element to the music, but the tracks here come across more directly and purposefully than before. Neither approach is inherently superior to the other. The songs on "Coal" have less surprises and twists to them, but the epic payoffs have never tasted so sweet.

Many of the songs here unveil a more static side to Leprous. By 'static', I do not mean dull by any means, but rather emotionally unchanging. "Coal" earns points for variety as an album holistically, but it's as if each track focuses in on one particular atmosphere, and fleshes it out until it reaches a critical mass. More often than note, that atmosphere is one of sombre reflection and melancholy; quite the departure from the zany antics of "Bilateral". Though Leprous have very little in common stylistically with Summoning, the approach and structure of the compositions here is reminiscent of Summoning's latest album in the sense that there is a notable emphasis on realizing the potential of a handful of really strong ideas, rather than filling out the album's length with a bunch of smaller-sized components. Tracks like the breathtaking "The Valley" and gorgeously morose "Echo" spend much of their time building up to a rapturous climax. The arrangements tend to dwell on certain ideas for longer than one might tend to expect from a 'progressive metal' release, and though I might have missed that 'everything but the kitchen sink' approach of Leprous' earlier work, it's a joy in its own right to see an idea develop and mature within the context of a track.

Fortunately, Leprous offer a handful of more traditional pieces to help balance out their experimental flair. "Chronic" is an energetic, quirky piece that would have fit snugly on "Bilateral". While "Salt" may work as a four minute extension of "The Valley", it functions excellently as a track of its own, its wonderfully ethereal chorus being one of the album's highlights. While "Contaminate Me" could have used a little variety to spice it up somewhere around the halfway point, it's a powerful way to wrap up the album, adapting the spawled- out structure of the album's longer tracks to a more severe, aggressive atmosphere. While the opener "Foe" sits at a comfortable five minute length, it just might be the most experimental cut from the album, featuring some of frontman Einar Solberg's most compelling vocal work to date. Although it probably won't surprise anyone, the weakest track here is the apparent 'single', "The Cloak". Although it works well as a break between the groove metal pyrotechnics of the title track and the masterful "The Valley", it doesn't tend to have the jaw-dropping quality of the rest of the album. The mellotron presence is very much welcome, but "The Cloak" ultimately comes off feeling like a Muse ballad more than anything else. On most other albums, it may have been a highlight, but I would have hoped Leprous could have delivered something a little bit more enticing for their album single.

The evolution of Leprous' sound on "Coal" is sure to grate unpleasantly with some listeners at first, but one thing that remains evident from the beginning is the band's standard of musicianship, which is virtually without par in the progressive metal genre today. With this across-the-board virtuosic skill in mind, it's all the more impressive that Leprous manage to restrain themselves to sporting their talents within the bounds of the songwriting. Although Leprous' sound is decidedly more experimental, comparisons could be drawn with Sweden's Pain of Salvation and their peak material from a decade past. It's possibly a less inviting dish than the albums Leprous have served in the past (at least initially), but there's no doubt that Leprous have broken into fresh territory.

It's pretty incredible how much a band can change in four years. From "Tall Poppy Syndrome" to this, the level of ambition and left-field wizardry has increased with each step. Although it will be some time before I'll truly know where "Coal" stands in comparison to the rest of the band's work, Leprous have delivered one of the most musically compelling experiences of the year thus far.

There is no doubt to my mind that this is metallic prog metal of some class and power, yet I am sure that it will upset some listeners who feel that prog should be more sedate and not in your face quite so much. But if prog is about progressing and pushing the boundaries as opposed to regressing and attempting to be a clone of the great bands that have gone before then this is it. This is modern, with the odd nod back to King Crimson, and is very much modern metallic progressive music for the 21st century. The more I have played this the more I have enjoyed it and while I think 4*'s is the right mark for now, ask me again in a few months and it may have made it up 5. If you want a dynamic soundscape then this is it. www.insideout.de

As nothing more than an occasional dabbler in the metal part of the prog spectrum, Bilateral is a tantalizing mix of all things great about it, while avoiding the (for me) less digestible bits. A clever concoction of atmospheric and emotional Riverside-ian soundscapes, dry, speedy and precise tech riffing, outstanding gritty and sticky heaviness and a clear, but never overwhelming or excessive melodiousness, this is an eclectic and elegant sampler of many of the sounds the genre has to offer. Without other comparisons intended, I even hear touches of the animated, jittery energy of post-hardcore now and then. Vocally, it's quite a diverse effort as well: ranging from soothing and clear beauty to harsh screaming and near-growl territory, often in rich, emotive and layered arrangements, there's something for everyone here.

But Leprous are more than just adroit combiners of styles. The song-writing is top-notch, fusing these parts into complete pieces of music that never feel contrived or forced. As such, disparate influences seep into each other both admirably and seamlessly making the end result feel fresh and rather creative when all things are said and done. Moody, urban "emo-psych" synthesizer atmospheres, classic organ sounds and inventive, modern electronics of more alternative rock and metal gladly and successfully intertwine with disciplined and aggressive guitar textures and brutish, sluggish riffs. When presented with a fair bit of symphonic sensibility, an emphasis on texture, gifted use of hooks and a peevish unpredictability both in song-writing and in sound detail (why not some jazzy trumpet here and some funky bass there?), you end with a crisp and tight yet bombastic grandeur that I find myself strangely and surprisingly enamoured by.

Dynamics are outstanding and both individual songs and the album ebbs and flows musically and emotionally. It's a vivacious and soaring journey through Porcupine-ish atmospheric melancholy all the way to blistering double bass drum onslaught. From the tender and melodic to the dirty and brutal. And as so often when these kind of fusions are presented to me as a listener, it's the way it melts away boundaries and makes it all feel natural that really seals the deal. You could certainly argue that most of what is done on Bilateral has been done before and in purer form and that the band is simply playing it safe in a prog metal no-one's land, but that is doing yourself a disservice. If you like me stand ambivalent to both the more traditional prog metal as well as the more extreme expressions of the genre, this is exquisite stuff. And that's just the icing on the cake, to be honest. Bilateral is a great album on its own. And that's what truly matters.

Not really what I usually fall for, but Leprous are, apparently, doing things right.

Quality and craft.

4 stars.

//LinusW

After hearing that this new album is more melodic, I gave it a shot. It certainly is more melodic. I was massively impressed with the interesting arrangements and structures in this album. Some songs are very delicate, such as The Cloak. Others sound more like behemoths of sound crisscrossing and playing with each other. Melody is almost always in the mix, and it plays well with the strange riffing style and the ethereal vox. This is no ordinary grinding tech metal album. In fact, I don't even like tech metal. But this album is just so much more interesting.

I was surprised at times that the vocalist reminds me of Jonathan Davis of Korn. Weird, I know, but I couldn't shake it, especially in the final track. I also noticed how each song really grows on you before you've even listened to the track in its entirety. "Foe" just sounds so strange, but half-way through, I "got it". The same thing applies to "Chronic" and "Coal". Leprous obviously tried to create something completely different here, and I applaud them for that. This is not music that I will listen to countless times, but because it is very good and especially because it is very different, I will give it 4 stars.

I am not on the heavy side of prog, so at first I was a bit afraid to listen to this album. But I am glad I did. Of course, the album is a bit heavy, but not so heavy as exptected. What makes 'Bilateral' fascinating is the sophisticated composition of the songs, with their well thought over intros, the structuring within the songs that fit well, their change of tempo and dynamics, mellow piano interludes, and overall good arrangement of the instruments.

Most of the vocals are clear and even amazing virtuosic singing. It reminds me, not in timbre, but in style of Deep Purple's Ian Gillan. I sincerely hope that Leprous' singer does not damage his vocal chords like Gillan did. Somewhere, on 'Thorn', you can hear a bit growling (it seems, that no artist of the tech/extreme genre may afford to avoid it). Normally I am annoyed by growling, but here it fits very well in the atmosphere of the song.

'Thorn' is also the song, which contains a trumpet! Apart from that, the instrumentation is quite conventional with guitars, bass, drums and keyboards, but the trumpet gives the album and additional exotic touch. Overall, the not very distorted guitars often play nice melodic chordal breaks or delicated riffs.

If there is one thing I'd like to criticize, then it is, that I wished that the drums would play a bit more independently from the bass. The drums plays too much along the bass lines and sounds sometimes a bit uninspiring. Otherwise this album would be perfect.

My personal favourites are Mb.Indifferentia, and, fitting to my attitude to this album, Acquired Taste.

I listened almost only to metal before I slowly got interested in progressive rock in the late 90s (Opeth the main reason may be?). As I still listen to a lot of metal, Leprous is for me almost the perfect mix of metal and prog rock. The only negative I can find about their debut album Aeolia is that the production could have been better.

This album is different from everything else I have listened to (except later albums from same band). It's very hard to define, the basic is much like traditional heavy metal (Iron Maiden), but it's spiced with playful, slower and jazzy piano passages and mixed use of clean and growl vocals (it sometimes reminds me of Australian band Vicious Hairy Mary and their album Orchestra Phantasma). The vocals are very good on this album, but the lead vocalist Einar Solberg has improved a lot since 2006 ? I think he's got one the best voices in the metal genre.

What makes this album (and band) unique? The variation in the whole album, the melodies are very good, and the complexity makes it an album you will never get tired of. Apart from Iron Maiden's debut album (one of my favorite album of all time) you will not find many debut albums better than this one!

9/10 points ? rounded up to 5 stars.

First, the cover. Topless she-demon swimming in a pitcher of lemonade torturing a half- naked, leather clad victim riding an anteater??? The mushroom forest in the background might give a clue about where the inspiration for this strange doodle-scene came from, but what does this have to do with the music at all? Similar to the band's name, previous cover, and album names, this head scratcher art points to a band that really hasn't quite found their identity. There are some extremely promising bits and pieces but it just doesn't gel yet. One might think that this was a psychedelic metal outfit, or something truly experimental. Instead, we get a very solid bit of the various takes on prog metal thrown into the stewpot and tastily cooked. A satisfying dish, but very familiar ingredients that don't leave any specific impression.

I do like this album better than the debut TALL POPPY SYNDROME. The band takes more chances, adds more texture, and integrates some ideas they didn't use before. The best song, to this listener, is the epic "Forced Entry," which has Riverside-like intense dark melancholy, down-tuned riffing, and a nice emotional contour that rises and falls without every wearing out its welcome. "Thorn" features a vocal by Ihsahn, which actually highlights the weakness of Solberg's harsh vocals. The heavy sections of this song are delightfully nasty, almost as if the black metal patriarch had made some songwriting suggestions. The black influence also is evident on "Waste of Air" and its tremolo picked intro theme, and rasp-voice.

Overall, Leprous is probably most akin to fellow prog metal wunderkind Haken. Where Haken still has some flavors of Dream Theater, Leprous borrows from more extreme prog like Enslaved, and juxtaposers like Shaolin Death Squad. But both have over-emoted clean vocals as their focal point, ultra-modern production and instrumental tones, and a lack of true originality.

This is another of those 3.5 star albums that will be rounded down. There are some really great passages on this disc, and there are some simply boring stretches. Solid stuff but probably nothing I'll be reaching for in 3 years.

I'm quite familiar with the "popular" and "less popular" progressive rock and metal bands from the last forty or so years, so I have a pretty good idea what to expect when I acquire a something new. But "Bilateral" caught me off guard. I have never heard an album quite like this one; I'm having trouble comparing Leprous to any other band in my library. Perhaps the bastard child of Between the Buried and Me and Korn? I don't know, my comparison is just as ridiculous as any others I've read, and I've read some comments/reviews that were way off basis. I find myself asking all too often, did that person listen to the same album I did?

In three words, Leprous is heavy, melodic, and emotional. It is difficult for me to fit them into a genre. Prog? Sure. Metal? Eh, kinda, but they don't follow the traditional metal structure. Unfortunately distorted guitars alone do not qualify a band as metal. Tech/extreme? There is nothing overly technical or extreme about this album. The songs rely too much on layering, building, and clean vocals.

In my opinion, the vocals are the driving force of this album. The guitar solos are few and far between; the ones that do make an appearance leave wank at the door. They tend to sneak up on you, and build up to the next vocal entrance. Each instrument creates a nice layer, and together the band members create a progressive atmosphere quite unlike any I have heard before, which is surprising considering how much power chord chugging they implement.

The writing in this album is nothing less than stellar. Leprous doesn't dwell on any passage too long, which is apparent in their relatively short songs (at the very least, I didn't get bored). They found a way to take all of the goodness from prog, remove some of its unnecessary complexity, and compact it into ten 4-10 minute tracks. They know when to stay on a decent riff, when to add another layer, when to suavely bring you to the climax, when to hit you over the head with an epic chorus, and how to bring you back down to a state of how the hell did they just weave that intricate web of awesome. Among the plethora of power chords and chugging that I've heard in quite possibly every modern band, this band has an additional sense of depth and simplicity that is unparalleled in my experience.

While I do highly recommend "Bilateral", it seems to be hit or miss with most people. It's probably my album of the year, thus tilted from 9/10 to 5 stars.