LOST AT LAST – In Darkness

Lost At Last from Bergen, Norway, are back following last year’s release Heavy Metal 6-pack. The band plays a raunchy, highly unpolished, Rock ‘N’ Roll-ish brand of Metal, and similarities to Motörhead and Entombed among others are evident.

Opener “100 Years” demonstrates this, with guitar melodies prominent at certain places and added to good effect. It’s a good enough start, and things lead straight into “S.Y.F” without you barely noticing. After awhile it becomes clear this is a problem that plagues much of the duration of this release, though Lost At Last has a good knack for tasteful, and not too predictable, breaks that are well-utilized and much needed. Meanwhile, the strengths with “Shit To Kill” build through a straightforward riff and chanting chorus values.

The band’s style, though quite powerful, becomes somewhat tiresome by the fourth track “Drawn To Darkness,” where a different take or pace could had been used to keep up the momentum, instead of wearing the engine, so to speak. Lost At Last’s earlier said taste for good breaks are used a couple minutes or so into this song, but it’s a trifle too late to break away from the predictability.

“Selfdestruct” draws the tempo down a notch, where a groovy riff takes over after the fat distorted bass intro. It’s quite a cool track save for the verses; the chorus trades places where verses traditionally are in this song. “Evilside” starts similar to Crank-era Almighty, after which a Tony Iommi-like riff takes place, along with the group’s Entombed leanings. Strange as it may sound, it has a positive feel, due to its silly sing-along tendencies. The band pulls a few turns in this track and manages to mend it together very well, something that should be more prominent for them in the future in order to hold the listener’s attention and keep the hard-hitting approach interesting. Likewise, “Brown Smile” showcases more likable arrangement ideas.

Unfortunately, the band does not seem to be able to hold these ideas together to keep the momentum going throughout the entire record on most occasions.

So far, Lost At Last is a secret outside of their home country, but potential exists for their brand and style, especially where Europe is concerned. As is stands, the tendency to wear thin after a while is the major setback of this CD, but the band’s creative ideas, where catchy breaks are concerned, makes up for a reasonably good portion of it. The talent is certainly there, the chemistry just needs to work more freely for them in order to realize their musical concepts more successfully. Once the band overcomes that barrier, they will be able to stand above a good bulk of other bands and cater to a sizable audience.