A few years ago a Swedish friend introduced me to the music of his compatriots Loch Vostok. I haven’t looked back since. Loch Vostok is one of my favourite bands. “The Doctrine Decoded” (2012) and “Dystopium” (2011) in particular are just outstanding in my eyes and ears. Great live band too, so hopefully things will reach the point where we can see them again. “Where cheese meets grind, where speed meets groove”, they say. I just think of their albums as epically catchy heaviness. “Opus Ferox – The Great Escape” is their eighth album. This one comes with a new lead vocalist but I’m pleased to say we haven’t lost the previous one, the dynamic Teddy Möller.

We’re taken into the groove straightaway with “The Freedom Paradox”. It’s big, dramatic and of course. Loch Vostok do big atmospheres. “The Freedom Paradox” is a sensory feat. The singer’s voice has a progressive touch, and the careful construction is progressive but there’s of everything here – this is dark musical theatre, heavy at the core, sophisticated and compelling. Follow that. Well, I guess they’re contractually obliged to do that, and away we soar into “Enter the Resistance”. This vocalist hasn’t got Teddy’s vulnerability and has a prog power orientation. Teddy chips in with his growls but what counts here is the vast totality of this. As ever it’s full of feeling – the human in the face of a remorseless world. “The Glorious Clusterfuck” follows with an ominously dark beat. Loch Vostok are down our throat with emotionally powered dark melodic metal. The ethereal electronic touches are sublime, capturing the senses and providing mystery as the melodic battle goes on. I reject the accusation of cheese. This is weighty power metal, if there is such a thing. Layers of sound stand above layers of sound as each power packed song takes us to new dimensions and new musical spheres. And let me say that this new vocalist is doing a fantastic job, adding power to this vast and sophisticated soundscape, none more so than on “Disillusion”. The musicianship is tight. Loch Vostok don’t care about sounding commercial, I’m sure. It doesn’t stay that way anyway as this is such a kaleidoscopic mix. Dreamy pop songs don’t have rumbling drums and heavy guitar work. “Galacticide” has all this and more, pausing for reflection but blowing our minds with catchy instrumentals.

My only concern here was whether the spell was going to be broken. Surely, I couldn’t be listening to 10 brilliant songs? Well, the magic continues with the djenty melody of “When the Wolves Have Eaten Everything”. Anthemic to the core, I found myself singing along to the chorus. As a song, it’s chunky and typically full of imaginative touches, which make the listening an easy pleasure and a delight. Teddy comes in with his growls and the heavy djent rolls along with the soaring chorus. My word. Dark meets light once again as the dark and heavy section of “Generation Fail” blends with the heavenly power and theatricality of the vocalist and all the delicate touches, the flamboyant guitar solo and the weighty finish. It’s unusual and substantial, weighing in at just under 4 minutes. Loch Vostok pack in so much into their songs. Each one is an adventure. A dark synth touch then takes us into the cosmos before our powermeister leads us into other worlds of delight and dark instrumental melody on “Seize the Night”. To the backdrop of more rhythmic djent we are guided over the highest ground. The title song is emotional power at its best. As I remember from seeing Loch Vostok live, the power is matched by emotional intensity. Each song is just that, and while the structures are sophisticated, the music flows. And then there are those hooky choruses like this one. Heavy, dark power – that could describe anything on here, yet each song has its own character. The start of “Save You” could well be from a progressive concept album, but seamlessly it ramps up and we’re faced with an imposing technical melody and more dark drums. But even with the musical gymnastics, it’s still a compelling song but as ever one which is full of twists and turns. The end is a heavy and as dark as we’ve heard but this is the way with Loch Vostok – the moods change, it’s invariably very dark and sinister, it’s always atmospheric and it’s always engaging for the listener. There is a bonus song “Black Neon Manifesto” at least on the CD version. It’s another progressively styled dark journey and I guess with its defiant but somewhat preachy “Hundreds of thousands will not be enslaved again” is a counter to the gloomy dystopia which features in the artwork and surrounds the atmospheric pieces which went before. Hitherto the music had spoken for itself and the singer enhanced the vast soundscape. This is less subtle and rougher than what went before and I would have happily ended with the thunderous finale of the “real” closing song “Save You”. But whilst “Black Neon Manifesto” left me a little cold for the first time, I’m not going to let that detract from my delight and wonderment upon listening to this magnificent monster of an album.

Full of explosive creativity and imagination, “Opus Ferox – The Great Escape” comprises one great song after another. A magnum opus indeed. This is in its musical concept and delivery a stratospherically brilliant album.

(9.5/10 Andrew Doherty)

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https://lochvostok.bandcamp.com/album/opus-ferox-the-great-escape