Leprous - Tall Poppy Syndrome (3/5)

01. Passing 8:31 02. Phantom Pain 6:51 03. Dare You 6:45 04. Fate 4:38 05. He Will Kill Again 7:32 06. Not Even A Name 8:46 07. Tall Poppy Syndrome 8:28 08. White 11:32

Sometimes it’s better just not to mix things: chicken and ice cream; petrol and fire; The X Factor and recording contracts. This rule has been overlooked by Leprous. Don’t let the name fool you, they’re not a death metal band, or are they? While the Norwegian five-piece last seen as the backing band of Emperor mastermind Ihsahn are superbly technical, they cannot seem to settle on a particular sound, instead opting for a mish-mash of all things metal. The result is both stunning and disastrous.

The album opens with the theme of Dracula emerging from his coffin, before such gothic refrains fade into a quiet vocal section to his credit, frontman Einar Solberg has probably one of the most diverse voices in metal. Suddenly, his sombre crooning erupts into a frightening death metal screech, while the guitars and drums follow suit. A chorus of ‘No way of sharing the pain that I feel’ (awww) then soars above the riffery, before it all collapses back into the mellow part. Repeat this again, but add in a laid-back guitar solo, a George Fisher regurgitation and a Hansi Kursch scream, and that’s a wrap. And that’s just the first song, ‘Passing’.

Progressive is the word. There’s so many different things going on and styles being incorporated in ‘Tall Poppy Syndrome’ that the album will either pull you in and fuck with your head (in the nicest way possible), or lose a listener to its overwhelming indulgence. Long instrumental sections also become tedious very quickly. ‘Phantom Pain’ sees a guest duet between Sonata Arctica’s Tony Kakko and In Flames’s Anders Friden. Nah, not really, but that’s what they manage to make it sound like, as well as adding in some terrific, haunting piano riffs, which then turn into cheesy electro synth spirals, before a jazz piano solo bows the track out. Just what the fuck’s going on here!?

The answer: probably too much. While Leprous have some brilliant ideas and some damn serious musical abilities, their chosen path of mimicking too many bands at once dilutes their powerful song-writing capabilities. So far, we’ve heard gothic metal, power metal and death metal. What else? A bit of black metal perhaps? Fear not, as ‘Not Even A Name’ kicks off with a frost-bitten riff reminiscent of Darkthrone’s ‘Transilvanian Hunger’ (only with much better production). The experimental jargon is present too; the title track has a spoken-word recital of the Jante Law (look it up), and ‘Tall Poppy Syndrome’ itself refers to the resentment of an individual or a group for being better than its peers are. Leprous stand against this and support freethinking.

Perhaps thinking a bit less freely would result in a much more sensible and accessible album that these Norwegians are more than capable of making. But in terms of progression and experimentation ten out of ten.

Tall Poppy Syndrome is avalible to buy or download at Play.com

Genre : Death Metal
For fans of : Blind Guardian, Ulver

Article by Andy McDonald