August 16, 2013

Ludicra - The Tenant (2010)

First things first: listen to The Tenant on Bandcamp.

Overall, I think there are five killer tracks on this album.  Six if you count "Last Train" (it's a bonus, literally).  The other two tracks aren't bad, either. Well, to be honest, the title track doesn't really do it for me, and I think "Last Train" is a far better closer.

The Tenant is not really a black metal album.  There are certainly some aspects of the sub-genre that are readily visible, but on the whole it is something more creative and wide-ranging.  The drumming is energetic and idiosyncratic.  And the guitars sketch out lines that are progressive in nature, even when utilizing the ubiquitous tremolo picking technique.

The song structures are somewhat atypical.  I don't think there's an actual chorus on any of these songs, though verses do get repeated on occasion. Some riffs come out of nowhere (such as in "Truth Won't Set You Free") and then end up being the backbone for half of a track.

In case it wasn't completely evident, it's difficult for me to talk about this album in an objective way.  I love it that much, and I would periodically kick myself for not being more familiar with the band before.  As it happens, they broke up in 2011, which makes it look like they went out on top.  That's not such a bad thing.

I can only hope that I'm so lucky.

To me, The Tenant was the best album of 2010.  When the band is firing on all cylinders (i.e. "In Stable", "Clean White Void", the aforementioned "Truth Won't Set You Free"), they are pretty much unstoppable.  Even when they aren't, they're still pretty damn compelling.  A unique and powerful band that is and will continue to be missed.

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