LASTERA – Rapture to Ruin

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6.5

• Bands:
  LASTERA
• Duration: 00:25:50
• Available from: 12/13/2024

Streaming not yet available

Constantly keeping up with all the new releases in the power metal universe, with all its perks and connections, is a titan's undertaking: the flat encephalogram is generally prevalent in this magmatic outpouring of productions, even important ones, which always repeat the same old story (it used to happen even thirty years ago, but at least in limited quantity/diffusion). Consequently, in 2024, the ones who will win both qualitatively and in terms of interest from critics will be those who design and create something truly captivating, something that goes beyond the usual canonical four and a half minute song, with the usual very high-pitched vocal lines. tonality and the usual solos fired with the cannon.
The Danish Lastera are trying, enough to talk about their next EP entitled “Rapture To Ruin” containing five songs, of which the first three are already in the public domain as singles.
Born in 2021 from the ashes of Downfall, a group of which three fifths of the current lineup of Ours were part, they debuted the following year with “From The Ashes”, a well-played but fairly standard power metal LP, in which what good had been done shines further in the release reviewed here: as also admitted by the singer and soul of the group Oliver Svensson (together with the drummer/keyboardist Emil Frøsig), the compositional process of “Rapture To Ruin” was more inclusive and organic, each member gave a tangible contribution to the final result and each track consequently acquired its own precise identity depending on who and how had their hands on it.
It is a concept album based on the figure of the 'Leader', an unspecified entity with immense powers whose objective is the salvation of the world but, although permeated by noble intentions, this entity will begin a path that will lead it into darkness, letting the evil side of power corrupt one's soul. This 'descent' is well explained by the changing sensations expressed within the album, starting from the clear and powerful melodies of “Cosmic Tranquility”, a perfect opening to the Sonata Arctica with notable solos of the two guitars and important symphonic interludes, and closing with the fast and dark “Bloodline”, an example of contamination between the purest power and extreme elements such as blast-beat and growling, capable of giving the listener an aggression perhaps not predictable from the start.
In the middle, we have the alternation of these two chiaroscuro souls, with the first still predominant in the harmless “Empyrean Light”, and the second making inroads in the subsequent “Led Astray” and “Displaced By Dark”; what captures our attention the most is precisely the third act of the tracklist, where the aforementioned Oliver transforms for a few seconds into Devin Townsend and explodes into powerful screams that create a nice contrast with the crystalline singing style heard up to that moment, and where more refined sounds emerge, making the union between symphonic power and a very generic extreme metal more evident. The lyrics were edited by bassist Kristoffer Koudahl, also author of an excellent instrumental performance like all his companions.
Even though we are reviewing an EP of five songs here, we can underline the step forward taken by Lastera compared to the first album: nothing to tear your hair out about, but a result that, in addition to satisfying the purists, can also arouse the curiosity of the most sought after customer.
Now it's reasonable to wait for the band to reach their second big hit, to try to make the real leap in quality and also gain the attention of some labels; it's actually surprising that they don't already have one, with the recent proliferation of the material mentioned at the beginning, but “Rapture To Ruin” in the meantime can boast of having been mastered by a name known as Jacob Hansen, already active with Volbeat and Amaranthe, among many.
Lastera are certainly not complete strangers at home, as demonstrated by the fact that they officially inaugurated the Epic Fest by playing at the first edition in 2023 as a supporting act for Blind Guardian, so the road is still to be covered, but with solid foundations behind.