Lantlôs - Wildhund

Angry Metal Guy

Lantlôs (should) need no introduction to those who are familiar with post metal genres. Their core song-writer and multi-instrumentalist, Markus Siegenhort, was there at the genesis of ‘blackgaze,’¹ pushing black metal into a sound that would arguably define its existence through the 2010s. Even Neige of Alcest can be heard on earlier records. This culminated in the 2014’s Melting Sun which is not only the greatest blackgaze record ever but also one of my favorites from the last decade. However, it’s been such a long time since that moment that I feared the band had faded into obscurity. Social media murmurs from last year gave rise to hope and now 2021 finally brings us a sequel called Wildhund. How is their bite after so long?

Wildhund is a tough nut to crack. If you start with the post metal of the most recent Lantlôs sound, pare back the black metal, integrate bolder rhythms and write alt metal riffs then you start getting somewhere near. I couldn’t quite put my finger on the final influence I was hearing but the one sheet (surprisingly) came through with the goods: the unique melodicism and drama of Devin Townsend. Wrap all of the above into a strangely dreamy package and you have Wildhund. Despite this atmosphere, it’s always supported by a robust metal backbone; namely the beefy guitars. An almost-djent bottom layer bolsters the higher layers which sometimes grind, sometimes sway and sometimes shimmer in classic shoegaze style. Angular leads displace the waves of noise which often represent post-influenced music such that Lantlôs sound more direct now than they have ever before.

As I progressed through the early tracks of the release I noticed that each uses the same brushes to paint different pictures. “Lake Fantasy” opens affairs with uncomfortable, grinding guitars and bold synths, while “Magnolia” is beefy and nimbler. Then “Cocoon Tree House” lands on something like a heavy indie rock with happy, uplifting melodies. Each song is separated from the one that came before, demarcating the greatest success here: tight, distinctive song-writing. Wildhund is post metal which somehow doesn’t get stuck up its own arse and actually focuses on brevity and songs, and not length or atmosphere. All but a couple of the 12 tracks, which only run for 50 minutes, have some unique quirk to distinguish them from the rest. Beyond those mentioned above, “Planetarium” deserves note given its whimsical introduction and cosmic but curious synths which are balanced with fairly heavy grooves. The mix does a good job of picking apart the layers of guitars and synths and highlighting the strong rhythms. The clarity permits the myriad textures to stand apart from each other which contributes to the sense of individuality between songs here.

Lantlôs have honed their music to a sharper point but the consequence of this is that the softer, emotional edge of Melting Sun is relatively absent here. That record toys with my emotions but Wildhund fails to do the same. If Melting Sun plays for the soul, Wildhund plays for the brain. It’s involving and each subsequent listen yields another musical crease to discover but I’m simply not as invested now as I was then. There are many fewer moments where the compositions simplify to expose the emotional nerve endings, with greater complexity and denser textures dominating proceedings. And although Siegenhort as a singer does what he can to augment his clean vocals (vocal layering, distortion and limiting his range), his voice was never his strongest musical attribute. The relatively flat approach here exacerbates the emotional drabness.

Am I disappointed? On the basis that a band’s frame of reference will always be their prior work, I have to be. And yet I don’t feel hard done by given the interesting material which Siegenhort continues to produce. Though it may not be one of the greatest post-black metal albums ever, Wildhund still channels the inventive energy that has characterized Lantlôs’s discography and deserves recognition for being a post-influenced metal release with streamlined, distinctive song-writing. It lacks the raw, emotive power of its predecessor but those who are post- or prog-inclined should find something to enjoy here.



Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps MP3
Label: Prophecy Productions
Websites: facebook.com/lantlos | lantlos.bandcamp.com
Releases Worldwide: July 30th, 2021

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Pitchfork 75

Read Patrick Lyons’ review of the album.