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Release Date: April 26th 2024. Record Label: Argonauta Records. Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl
The Stronghold - Tracklisting
1. Kings And Servants
2. Praised The Lord For A Brighter Future
3. Failing To Witness His Mighty Work
4. But All Remembered The Place…
5. The Stronghold
Review
French Instrumental Doom Metal/Post-Metal collective The Lumberjack Feedback return with their epic third album The Stronghold and once again the band take a different approach with their music. As the band is a type of creative outfit that never releases the same type of album twice. The Stronghold may not be as dark as their 2019 album Mere Mortals with the band even adding high amounts of uplifting Ambient Post-Rock compared to the Post-Black Metal carnage that appeared within Mere Mortals.
However, the band still creates vast moments of Psychedelic Doom Metal and Post-Metal with powerful synths being added within the opening track of Kings And Servants. The song is a blend of Post-Metal passages that feels inspired by the likes of Russian Circles and Pelican but with a more sombre and sludgy guitar tone. The record sees The Lumberjack Feedback exploring more SONIC textures and Ambient movements with a Progressive energy allowing the record to be quite organic especially on Kings And Servants and the wonderfully Psychedelic leaning second track Praised The Lord For A Brighter Future.
Praised The Lord For A Brighter Future can be quite therapeutic with a lush and aggressive style of Post-Rock becoming more Post-Doom or Atmospheric Sludge on the later stages of the track. Progressive Metal drumming allows the music to become more daring and melodic at the same time. The Lumberjack Feedback have a free-flowing creative attitude to their instrumental sounds that can be quite surreal and with a world-building quality which they use more intensively on the remaining tracks on the album.
There are small sections of the album where The Lumberjack Feedback abandon their Post-Metal identity and explore the Post-Stoner or Desert/Stoner Rock world to breathtaking results especially on the outstanding third track Failing To Witness His Mighty Work which is perhaps one of the standout tracks. The deft STONER instrumental touches and solitary acoustic guitars allows the listener to see a side to the band that we haven’t experienced before.
The final two tracks of But All Remembered The Place… and The Stronghold allows The Lumberjack Feedback to return to their Post-Metal world with the heaviest moments on the whole album with that free-flowing Post-Doom or Post-Stoner sound coming at the right opportunity before being deconstructed into a classic style of bleak sounding Post-Metal passages within the final epic title track.
The Stronghold is without doubt The Lumberjack Feedback most emotionally charged, technically impressive and outstanding record to date. All dedicated followers of the Post-Metal scene need to add this wonderful album to their record collection right now. It’s seriously top-level stuff which I’m hoping brings more exposure to this already great band.
Words by Steve Howe
Thanks to Grand Sounds Promotion for the promo.
The Stronghold is available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl via Argonauta Records from Friday 26th April 2024.
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