Loch Vostok reviewed
Loch Vostok
Destruction Time Again!
(Escapi)
Former members of Swedish prog metal outfit Mayadome release their second as Loch Vostok.
Named for a subterraneous Antarctic lake, the band don’t seem quite so remote. Loch Vostok’s ranging metal is still very much progressive, but somehow manages to be extraordinarily random without sounding overly ambitious. “Rebound,” with Tina Gunnarsson’s suprise female vocals, hearkens to Queensrÿche’s Operation: Mindcrime; the rapid-fire intro to “Xerox Nation” could fit well in Pamplona with all the speeding and crashing mayhem; while the rest of the 11 tracks grab from galloping British metal, Pantera (part of “Falself” is “25 Years”), Dream Theater, and — it’s blood, baby — black metal (“It’s time to rape the earth/and burn this fucking town”). Pieces of Destruction Time Again! are too jumpy for their own good and the keyboardist needs to be sacked, otherwise, Mayadome’s demise doesn’t seem to be that much of a loss.
— Steve Forstneger
