I was not familiar with The Last of Lucy, until I stumbled upon “Ashvattha” last year - a brilliant record which I like to call the “Autotheism” of the band’s discography. Dropping a few flashy singles earlier this year, accompanied by the vibrant artwork, California based The Last of Lucy has shed their skin to reveal a much more lethal creature and is back with their sophomore full-length “Moksha”.
The album opener “Moksha” showcases some blackened death metal vocals in style of Vale of Pnath, with brutal riffs and blasting double bass providing the grooves and the fast pacing of the song. The opening title - track builds up the perfect soundscape the band would carry on throughout the album.
Beginning with electric ambient outer-space sound, “Agni” showcases a lethal mixture of fast arpeggiated riff with technicalities mixed into it - the technique pioneered by The Faceless during the “Planetary Duality” era. “Afterthought” features catchy Inferi styled riffs with interesting grooves that brings out the brutality of the band’s sound. Also the subtle presence of synth orchestration in the background elevate the listening experience
Tracks like “Ego Death” and “Parasomnia'' showcase intense riffs - alien noises with sweeps and shreds in the style of Rings of Saturn. The melodic guitar solo in “Ego Death” counteracts the technical prowess of the song. “Parasomnia” showcases flawless shifting between the technical and groovy parts. “Ritual of the Abraxas” showcases some progressive influence with guitars along the halfway - reminding of the “Ashvattha” era.
Tracks of the second-half like “Temple of Rati”, “Ganga’s Cenote” and “Covenant” add nothing much special to the already technical and groovy songwriting aspect. With the album closing track “The Demiurge”, The Last of Lucy incorporates every facet of what makes “Moksha” special. Also, how can I not mention the groovy breakdown-ish riff (been headbanging to it since the song was released!)
There has been a huge change in sound since their last album “Ashvattha”. While “Ashvattha” had a progressive and jazzy aspect incorporated in the songwriting, “Moksha” seems to have abandoned all that, focusing more on the technical and groovier side. The previous album had a broader spectrum with filler tracks like “Vigilante” and “Permutation” making the runtime around forty minutes, “Moksha” sticks to a confined runtime of thirty minutes with no tracks being three to four minutes long.
A tighter runtime accounts for tighter songs - “Moksha” certainly provides that. No track wastes a single moment and gets straight into showcasing brutality. While I would have some jazzy and proggy influences (maybe saxophone solos again), I can’t complain about “Moksha” either. Josh De La Sol’s vocals shine through his blackened high screams and lows and gutturals. The drums do maximum heavy lifting, providing the necessary axis for guitars. Drums almost blast like machine guns in the groovy parts. The guitars seem more polished than the previous record, aiding to that are the tighter rhythm sections accounting for the extreme heaviness of the album. The production is superior in every aspect, almost reaching a point of flawlessness and perfection. In an era of rich tech-death bands, The Last of Lucy provides yet another brilliant record, which can be termed, as the absolute Pinnacle of Modern Technical Death Metal.
Rating: 4.5/5.0
Website: https://thelastoflucyband.bandcamp.com/
Genre: Technical Death Metal
Worldwide Release: February 18th, 2022.
