Lantern - Dimensions CD

LANTERN (Finland) - Dimensions (2020) (sealed CD copy).  The third album and follow-up to 2017's "II: Morphosis" sees Lantern continuing on their unique path blending eerie melodies with and top notch riffs topped off by the one-of-a-kind vocals of Necrophilos. "Dimensions" is destined to be one of 2020's finest efforts.

Finnish caverncorestas Lantern return with their third LP to date, ‘Dimensions’. Toning down the excessive reverb on the guitars and drums, this release gives the riffs a chance to shine without distraction. Which is just as well because Lantern don’t hold back on the more technical elements of their style here. A confusing array of riffs that feel like chunks of different songs accidentally boarding a bus together greet the listener from the moment of hitting play, but this is a typical trick of Lantern’s at this point, as within each track and over the album they tend to make more sense as our context grows and the music builds into coherence.

Odd key changes, dissonance, an entirely atypical relationship between lead and rhythm instruments all folds together as this album grows and offshoots sprout.

Drums revel in this confusion, refusing to provide a stable rhythmic bass. The time signatures aren’t all that unusual, but the fills are near constant and unpredictable, as are the tempo changes, to the point that they appear one step ahead of the guitars. A blast-beat will crop up without precedent only for the guitars to catch up a few beats later. This is done either through the eerie breakdowns, doomy finales, or occasionally settling on one mood or key for more than a few bars, giving us a chance to breathe and take stock.

Vocals have changed little since previous releases. An aggressive bark that would be at home on a Hardcore Punk record is laced in the same cavernous reverb. Part of the joy of Lantern is the emotionless chaos they are able to conjure through the idiosyncratic atmospheres that supervene on these odd riff choices.

The more chasmic atmospheres may be slightly less prevalent, but this puts Lantern more in line with exceptional Progressive Death Metal such as Execration. The laboured Doom passages are an exercise in eccentricity over chasmic despondency. The music is a journey not a meditation. ‘Dimensions’ forges new creative spaces for Lantern, a demonstration of artistic incrementalism over a leap into the unknown.  **originally published on metal-archives.com by we hope you die**  Dark Descent Records ‎– DDR241CD

Artwork by Timo Kokko

Mixed and mastered by Dan Lowndes at Resonance Sound Studio.