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Leprous do prog in another way. Relatively than jam 10 million riffs right into a single track or present the world some swanky new sweep arpeggios, this Norwegian collective use their abilities to take one motif and make it compelling for minutes on finish. Their tracks add layers of dextrous guitars, electronics and symphonies to essentially the most affecting melody, and so they’re usually hallowed as trailblazers inside experimental music for it.
Einar Solberg and the boys have launched seven albums since beginning, with quantity eight, Melodies Of Atonement, coming in August. So, what higher time to look again and re-examine Leprous’ dynamic musical journey up to now? From debut Tall Poppy Syndrome to newest Aphelion, that is their each (extraordinarily good) full-length report ranked by brilliance.
7. Tall Poppy Syndrome (2009)
Look, one album needed to come final, OK? Tall Poppy Syndrome, although it nonetheless falls beneath the “progressive” banner, is nigh unrecognisable from the Leprous we all know immediately. Whereas the band of their present kind are more and more dedicated to episodic songs, this debut was strewn with idea-stacked excessive/prog metal suites. 99 p.c of musicians that deal in such issues would kill to have made tracks as refined as Passing or as explosive as Not Even A Identify, particularly on their first go. Nonetheless, this was nonetheless very a lot an outfit discovering their identification, and it seldom hits as exhausting because the immediacy of their later materials.
6. Pitfalls (2019)
By 2019, Leprous had lengthy since divorced themselves from the “progressive steel” categorisation that match them in the beginning of their profession, and Pitfalls noticed them push even additional away from the style. I Lose Hope was a bouncing hip-hop banger and At The Backside pulsed with trap-like beats, whereas the emotive Distant Bells swelled with symphonic textures. Consequently, although, guitarists Tor Oddmund Suhrke and Robin Ognedal and drummer Baard Kolstad felt underutilised, solely attending to steal the present throughout the scrambling Foreigner and the latter half of The Sky Is Crimson. Some weapons within the Leprous arsenal went untouched right here, regardless of the compositional craft all through.
5. Bilateral (2011)
Bilateral marked each an finish and a starting. On behemoths like Compelled Entry and Waste Of Air – labyrinthine, heavy, laced with noise and jazz – Leprous fulfilled the promise of Tall Poppy Syndrome, doubling down on their maximalist methods. Nonetheless, there have been additionally songs that charted the extra direct sound to come back: Stressed and Acquired Style particularly have been nuanced but infectious moments. Due to this distinction, early followers usually identify Bilateral as this band’s magnum opus, and we’re greater than understanding of why. To our tastes, then again, this represented extra of a mid-transitional transfer than a masterpiece in its personal proper.
4. Aphelion (2021)
Aphelion was the extra even-handed sibling of Pitfalls. Leprous’ seventh album continued the symphonic experiments of its predecessor, but additionally discovered area within the combine for guitars and drums, making it really feel like rather more of a collaborative effort. This masterclass in texture undoubtedly benefited from the steadiness, particularly when Castaway Angels ascended from acoustics and vocals to an orchestra of evocative rock music and strings. But, it was the galloping Silent Revelation and the extra electro-symphonic Shadow Aspect in sequence that communicated the Norwegians had nailed the sound they have been striving in the direction of. Issue within the irresistible melodies of Out Of Right here and Nighttime Disguise and also you get an absolute victory.
3. Malina (2017)
Malina was precisely the album Leprous wanted to make at that time of their profession. The band had beforehand scored a shock hit with The Congregation single The Worth and, whether or not deliberately or not, this listenable successor capitalised. It boasted a bunch of chic anthems, particularly From The Flame with its (gasp) three choruses and 4/4 time signature. Concurrently, there was no dumbing down within the songwriting division, as communicated by the looming aria that was The Final Milestone, in addition to the polyrhythmic throbs of Coma. That symphonic post-rock finale to Caught is simply fucking excellent, too.
2. Coal (2013)
The primary notes of Coal’s opening reduce, Foe, have been an immediate announcement that Leprous’ priorities had shifted. In lieu of warped prog, listeners obtained bombarded with easy, staccato blasts of sound, swiftly joined by soulful vocals wailing out a hummable hook. This drive for melody outlined the album, the band capable of weave repeated choruses, even by means of the seven-minute extravaganza Persistent and the screaming, all-metal barrage that was Contaminate Me. The Cloak, arguably Leprous’ first really standout single, painted essentially the most correct image of the long run, constructing its increasing layers and luxurious singing on high of three easy guitar notes.
1. The Congregation (2015)
Certain, that is the predictable primary choose, however typically a call is predictable as a result of everybody is aware of it’s the best factor to do. It doesn’t matter what you like Leprous for – be it their progressive fearlessness, top-notch hooks or symphonic and digital undercurrents – The Congregation flaunted it. From the second The Worth offered an addictive vocal melody atop off-rhythmic guitar work, it was clear that intelligence and heart-stopping songwriting would reside an ideal marriage throughout this report.
Each track, from the stampeding Third Regulation to the minimalist Decrease, had a robust melody at its forefront to beckon the listener again. Then, as soon as they got here again, they observed the impressively technical touches, just like the fierce drumming beneath Rewind, or the digital beat of The Flood getting picked up and carried to the end line on electrical guitar. Whether or not you have been listening for the primary time or hundredth, one thing new would most likely dazzle you.
Thus, The Congregation (and particularly The Worth) earned Leprous a broader attraction than ever earlier than and, furthermore, represents a steadiness the band are nonetheless making an attempt to recapture 9 years onwards. In case you ever wish to get into an argument over one of the best prog album of the 2010s, this is without doubt one of the first discs we’d slam onto the desk.
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