Ludovico Technique last blessed us with a full album back in 2012 which drifted in and out of several styles of industrial, many of the tracks aggrotech and most akin to Psyclon Nine.
In November last year they returned with the first single of the next album and in a very different style. The first of many singles that will eventually lead to the next album. In this article, we review the second such single recently released.
LUDOVICO TECHNIQUE have just released their newest single entitled 'Up to the Flames', accompanied by a lyric video that offers stunning visuals that are intensified by the song's poignant lyrics.
This goth tinged metal opus is a reflection of our times, where a world set aflame proves inescapable. This is the second single released from their forthcoming full-length album "Haunted People." Bringing his dark mystique to goth industrial metal, Ben V-, along with his band Ludovico Technique, showcase a thoughtful depth and complexity unmatched by many bands.
With haunting music accompanied by beautiful, cinematic visuals; Ludovico Technique is the very embodiment of the Gothic aesthetic in its purest form. In the beginning, the band drew inspiration from goth industrial bands such as Skinny Puppy and Marilyn Manson, yet now, the future for Ludovico Technique moves towards a world more akin to fans of Type O Negative, Rob Zombie, and Slipknot, bringing a taste of the underground to the forefront of what goth industrial metal can achieve.
Cover of the Novemeber 2020 single 'Live as Myself'
Review
The change in style Ludovico Technique have taken is instantly obvious because you'd have no idea that it was the same band. The piano most vintage teases a haunted atmosphere before kicking in the drums before the thought has even finished registering.
Corrupting Gothic honey is the only way to describe the deep, sensual vocal tone used to draw you in to this song. There is that nod to the era of the Sisters of Mercy and the dance floor classics of the elder Goths.
The vampiric feeling of an empathic predator preying upon your innermost thoughts and using them to ensnare you further adds to the moth to the flame imagery of the single.
When everything around you.. Is cast further aside. When feelings that surround you.. Are where you try to hide. Don't close your eyes.. I've come.
The chorus has that more recognisable lighter tinge to his voice that almost brings about familiarity of early 2000's emo music. Which surprisingly, adds quite well to the overall effect even if a tad nasally for my liking. These become the predominant vocals over the earlier beautiful deep style that put me in the mind of Type O negative. It seems a little messy in the change between the two styles of singing but as I said, it seems to work so well for the overall track, I can't exactly describe that as a negative in any way. Sort of how a moth flutters skittishly in distress over reaching the flame and the danger it perceives in doing so..
Conclusion
This is a very different form of musical art from Ludovico Technique and one that will be loved by fans, just as much as it may be shunned by others. Perhaps the change is an attempt to open in to a wider audience or perhaps it is to reflect the growth the band has felt over the last decade. Either way there is a lot of promise here if the band can nail down an overall signature sound for the rest of the album.
An exciting time for Ludovico Technique, exploring a new direction that takes inspiration from some of the best predecessors in Goth, metal, and Industrial music. This is going to be an album bursting with potential and dark Gothic desire.
SCORES
Technicality: 6/10
Soul factor: 7/10
Energy : 6/10
Vocals : 7.5/ 10
Re-playability: 7.5/10
Overall score: 6.8 / 10
See Also
Bandcamp: HERE
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