Röck Döts

Lantlôs with Falloch and Hallig

Location: Helvete, Oberhausen
Date: 10/04/2014

With their most recent record, "Melting Sun", German outfit LANTLÔS separated themselves from the post-black-metal-scene they emerged from. Their stylistic change took them into a post-rock setting that doesn't need any blastbeats or screaming. Fortunately fans and critics welcomed this change of direction and even praised it. The band's European tour is supported by Irish post-rockers FALLOCH. Today's show in Oberhausen also bills German black metallers HALLIG.

After waiting for some time in the venue, HALLIG finally take the stage. This four-piece play melodic but old school black metal. I don't know if the lyrics are German or English, because you just don't understand them. The music itself is not very interesting or special, but the band's drummer is quite good. HALLIG play for almost half an hour, but they fail to impress the audience. There are about 50 people in front of the stage and only two or three bang their heads, while the rest is rather drinking a beer.
FALLOCH are far better. The band's post-rock is able to find a good balance between post-rock and songwriting. The songs are rather short for post rock standards and include lot of singing and even real choruses. Sometimes the British band seems like a post-rock version of old BIFFY CLYRO. Now the venue is more crowded than before and FALLOCH seem to attract more people than HALLIG did before. For about forty minutes the quartet deliver a solid show, without many high, but definitely no lows.
Then it's time for German five piece LANTLÔS, whose show includes tracks of their last two black metal records, as well as four of six songs taken from "Melting Sun". 'Intrauterin and 'Bloody Lips and Paper Skin', both from "Agape" open the set. Especially the slow but heavy opener might be a whole new level of LANTLÔS than the fans of the band's new direction of post-rock. But these new blend of fans won't be disappointed because what's following are the first four songs taken from "Melting Sun". Live these tunes are a lot more trough than on record, which fits these compositions very well. The band's performance is more than solid, but there isn't a lot of action on stage. The guys play their instruments very well, but stay focused on playing instead of posing. Even the faster songs from the group's past are played in such manner. After little more than 60 minutes and the great 'Coma' from ".Neon" the band wants to leave the stage, but the crowd begs for more. So they just play 'Melting Sun I: Azure Chimes' one more time before they say goodbye at last. LANTLÔS definitely have the potential to attract far more people than just about 100 as today. I'm pretty sure than "Melting Sun" will appeal to many people more in the following months. They'd deserve it.