This band has always appealed to my senses, and so it was with great excitement that I received this one. Exciting is a good word to describe Loch Vostok’s music but then it is many things: heavy, progressive, epic, catchy, energetic and even vulnerable in different moments. Now in their 24th year of existence, “Mark of the Beast” is the second of the “Opus Ferox” trilogy and the band’s ninth album release.

Away we go with the rampant melody of “Distant Assistance”. It’s typically unstoppable with its rapid-fire pace and flurry of heaviness. The vocals have to be heavy to match and are, and have a power metal air. “Distant Assistance” sets the scene. By comparison “Cult Status” is more toned down. The impassioned vocals are largely clean and tell a dark story, aided by moments of pulsating heaviness from the drums and guitar. This album hadn’t got going yet. “The Great Wide Open” has a measured approach to begin. The melody is solid. “Social codes, high demand, what you never knew” …. the song seems more about the power vocals and the message than the music, which could never be accused of being humdrum and do pack a punch but fell short for me when it came to loftiness. Instrumentally there is great control but again on “Children of Science”, I found the power-progressive vocals were so dominant in the mix that after the initial build-up, the instrumental work was almost incidental. They’re decent vocals, mind.

Ok, so I’m going to have to get over this shift in the Lock Vostok sound. After all, it’s about what it is, not what it was. “Senses” is more what I expected. It starts dramatically before a technical twirl and growled thrashiness intervenes. Furious and forward-driving, this song is a whirlwind. The vocalist’s interventions have an element of David Coverdale, but for once the power is in the overall atmosphere which is quite a complex affair. Midway through, there’s a break and with it an enticing keyboard section and programmed vocal section before a return to the blood and thunder. I’m not sure I really got “Senses” but I applaud it for its fire and adventure. It does feature the epic chorus that I always liked about this band. “Drastic Measures” starts with a little electronic ditty before exploding into life and mixing heaviness with melody and energy and a catchy chorus, all characteristics that I know Loch Vostok for – now we’re talking. As an observation but certainly no criticism, the chorus of “Drastic Measures” is outwardly commercial. Nice song.

The vocals of “Rebel Command” are plaintive, reminding me of Helloween and expanding for the chorus. The instrumental contribution is as ever chunky and heavy, complementing the power metal style from the vocalist. If the vocals of “Rebel Command” reminded me of Helloween, those and the lyrics of “Just Like That” made me think of Green Carnation, but here with the statutory pumping heavy metal background. Is “The Mark of the Beast” a nod to Iron Maiden, I wonder? As a song “Just Like That” didn’t really lead anywhere for me. “Lords of the Inanimate” has a different face. It is dark, spooky and heavy-progressive in its style. The presentation is interesting and expansive but I struggled to engage with the structure of it. As the song heads towards the end, the darkness becomes growly, the chorus becomes passionate and harmonised while the keyboard has the tone of progressiveness about it. There was too much going on for it to be dramatic. Loch Vostok songs are always dynamic, and the final song “Ancient Body Switching Ritual” is that. Again however it is quite lyric-heavy as the power-progressive presentation is prominent. I enjoyed the growlier section more, and as always the instrumentals are fiery and heavy. Towards the end, they cut away and the song rises triumphantly with a Mercenary style chorus before closing out with a final burst of energy.

It’s normal for a band to modify their approach, in fact it would be boring if they didn’t. What I felt here was a disconnect between the power metal vocal performance and the instrumental attack to the point where instead of being integrated, in the earlier songs of the album the instrumentals were repressed instead of the two elements being as one in the mix. There was less of this in the later songs but the abundant mix of styles for me got in the way of the overall structure. It worked better for me on previous albums when the thunderous instrumentals were matched by pained vocals and it was a very powerful combination. The thing that holds it together now is that these musicians are so talented, and all the heaviness and melody and everything else are in there somewhere. As a whole this was a good and I would say adventurous album but even then there are so many elements in the mix of “Opus Ferox II – Mark of the Beast” that I found it quite a hard album to digest.

(6.5/10 Andrew Doherty)

https://www.facebook.com/lochvostok

https://vicisolumrecords.bandcamp.com/album/opus-ferox-ii-mark-of-the-beast