I know people who’ve dropped off the bandwagon with Leprous since their adventurous early years. I’ve had my wobbles with them but this is a band whose music right up to their last album release “Aphelion” (2021) has always been challenging. There’s no template really. I’ve known Leprous’s music to be brash, quiet, commercial and avant-garde. The picture I have of them, having seen them play live on several occasions, is of the beanpole Einar Solberg on keyboards dominating the stage with lightshows going on in the wings. It’s often music about the fragile of mind, but with Leprous no two albums are the same. Solberg himself describes this one as “more heavy than proggy”.

Distorted electro forms the backbone of “Silently Walking Alone”. Solberg delivers the melancholy before shouting the title into the sky with his customary clarity and vocal range. The song is dark and discomforting. “Atonement” then hits us like a pulse. Solberg’s high-pitched vocals are typically focussed and expressive. The instrumental support provides the darkness and menace. The structure and vocals are quirky as ever. Drama is never far away, and to a James Bondesque backing, Solberg takes the mood from quiet reflection to epic tension in West End musical fashion. Electronic waves provide the shadowy atmosphere of “I Hear the Sirens”, which again is the vehicle for Solberg’s sultry vocals. So far I found this album sinister and moody, but not heavy as claimed except perhaps in the sense of a heavy cloud bearing down. “Like a Sunken Ship” follows a similar pattern before bursting of its shell explosively. Its ghostly tones are reverberating through me even as I write about it. Without doubt this is a creative progressive approach, which as with all previous Leprous albums is striking for its almost insane unusualness.

The ghostly instrumental pattern continues on “Limbo”. Solberg’s lyrics are as oddball as the music. Yet it pulled me in thanks to the strange but highly professional delivery and heightening tension. “Limbo” was one of my favourite songs on the album. They’re all different from the norm – that’s Leprous – but this one drew me into its web more than others. A bassy tune starts “Faceless”, another song which eschews exaggeration or expansion. Solberg injects the emotion. “I’m not the faceless now, I wanna get it out” proclaims Solberg defiantly. The song’s lyrics represent someone with a sense of detachment. The music and vocal represent the emotions in a powerful and hypnotising way. Being lost, floating and fading visions are the lyrical theme of “Starlight”, another tense, dramatic and gloom-laden song. These songs are like progressive hymns, none more so than “Self-Satisfied Lullaby” with its hypnotising beat, electronic waves and choral beauty. It ends climactically with a controlled and suitably emotive guitar section. Alienation and the need to be saved feature strongly over the course of this album. “Unfree My Soul” begins with the line “Tonight’s the night that I need saving”. Once again melodramatic, Solberg takes us through his insecurities, accompanied by a dramatic, developing sound score.

Listening to this album I felt a strong element of showmanship, which wasn’t entirely surprising. The songs are moody and gloomy and don’t overwhelm us with heaviness. So what’s the fuss? The fact is that Einar Solberg and his mates have crafted on “Melodies of Atonement” a sophisticated blend of music and words. The sound may for the most part be quiet while the mood is edgy and the messages are loud and brash, aided by masterful subtleness of delivery. Leprous are very different in their approach to their musical compositions, and in a refreshing way.

(8.5/10 Andrew Doherty)

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https://insideoutmusic.bandcamp.com/album/melodies-of-atonement