### Luctus: Stotis

#### 27/06/13 || Pr0nogo

#### THRASH, BLACK, THRASH, CRUST

Alright, you crusty fuckers, let’s go at it. Lithuania apparently has a few decent metal bands that came out with releases this year, and Luctus was one of them. I might like “Stotis“, their second full-length that clocks in at around forty-three minutes, but I don’t like their IQ. And I don’t mean the Inquisitor. Really, guys, did you forget to proofread the ‘genre’ field when sending your shit to GD? Why did you put “thrash” there twice? Why didn’t you just hybridise thrash and black (“black/thrash”)? Why the fuck did you put “crust” in that field in the first place? We’re talking about your music, not your cocks, and Luctus’ latest full-length is certainly not crusty. It’s actually pretty standard black/thrash, and I dig it. Here’s why.

Let’s begin with “Nežiūrėk, nežibėk”, the first track on the album. It opens up strong, giving a great first impression, and has me hooked on the vocal style pretty much immediately. I dig me some black metal from time to time, and this isn’t that boring basement cvlt shit that I talked about a little while ago, so suffice it to say that the vocals aren’t nearly as uninspired as some of the garbage out there. They drive the mix, giving everyone a great idea of what the vocalist (whose stage name is the same as the band) is capable of. His performance isn’t exactly spectacular, and there are a few timings I would change, but I can guarantee you that only the extremely pedantic (read as: me) would take a large amount of issue with Luctus’ vocals. He gets the job done: his highs are consistent, his middle-pitched screaming is fantastic, and I especially enjoyed the way the vocalist became the driving force behind the instrumentation. The best part is that he seems to understand that the vocals are supposed to catch the listener’s ears, and he does that throughout the entire album. That’s how I like my metal, fuckers.

The instrumentation is where I doze off for a bit. Specifically speaking about the guitars and the bass, things are very reminiscent of other black metal acts, occasionally crossing over into things that almost resemble Immolation, but it all lacks the power and the presence that sets it above the rank and file of black metal. It’s almost like the energy is all in the drums and the vocals, and none of it was shared with the guitarists – which is especially weird, since the vocalist also does the basswork. Now this might be the producer’s fault, and I won’t necessarily fault the band for that, but the fact remains that the fault made it into the final product – the product that I’m listening to. If I had bought the shit instead of it being handed to me, I wouldn’t be too happy about the guitars. When they’re good, they’re good, but on average they sound like the same few notes strumming over and over to the hymn of the base doing the exact same thing. The energy I feel from those mundane and recycled actions is mostly coming from the drums and the vocals. I even filled out the band information before I wrote the review, and I still forgot that there were two guitarists. That’s not how I like my metal, fuckers.

But the drums redeem “Stotis“, and to an extent, the band as a whole. Luctus’ drummer is a pretty smart guy: even if he can’t blast with the best, he knows how to tailor his performance to best fit the mix. He fulfills his drumming duties to the best of his ability, delivering some of the more memorable moments on the record (I’m thinking, for example, sometime during “Mirusių žvaigždžių šviesoj”) and showing off the skills he has. A satisfying but somewhat stale execution of simple drum tracks punctuates every beat of “Stotis“, and before you know it, this forty-three minute record is over. I enjoyed every minute of it, but I certainly didn’t expect things to be over so soon. It’s not a short album by any means, but it felt short. Maybe I’m alone on this one but when an album doesn’t feel like it lasted proportionately to its actual length, I get the impression that something was rushed. Regardless, “Stotis“ is an enjoyable black/thrash record (with absolutely nothing about it striking me as “crust”, mind you), and I look forward to seeing the band’s third full-length release – whenever that might be. Enjoy.

Listen here.

- Information
- Released: 2013
- Label: Inferna Profundus Records
- Website: Luctus Facebook
- Band
- Gytis “Kingas”: drums
- Šatras: rhythm guitars
- Luctus: vocals, bass
- Blakulla: lead guitars

- Tracklist
- 01. Nežiūrėk, nežibėk
- 02. Audra slenka virš miesto
- 03. Mano kumštis
- 04. Mirusių žvaigždžių šviesoj
- 05. Monotoniškas juodmetalis
- 06. Stotis
- 07. Pakaruokliška vienatvė