Loneshore

Origin: Brazil
Active since: 2014
Label: BadMoodMan Music
Genre(s): Death/doom metal, progressive metal
For fans of: Opeth, Katatonia, Daylight Dies

This review is also available at rateyourmusic.com

“From Presence to Silence”

What can a bunch of Brazilians that really like death/doom metal and Opeth achieve? A whole lot, apparently! The fantastic album cover (doom metal meets David Lynch?) motivated me to check out “From Presence to Silence”. I didn’t regret my decision. Let’s dive into why Loneshore’s debut album is a solid one.

It’s impossible to examine the Loneshore sound without talking about Opeth, circa “Blackwater Park”. Many melodies on the album remind me of the more accessible moments, like “The Drapery Falls” and “Bleak”. This is not a carbon copy though. The songwriting style is more death/doom metal, being long, but without as many progressive twists. Loneshore also plays quite rhythmical and aggressive at times, reminding me of my U.S. death/doom darlings Daylight Dies.

Vocals , instrumentation and production

Vocally, it’s a mix between competent growls and Opeth-inspired clean vocals. It’s not extraordinary for the style, but the band certainly knows how to write songs. The highlight for me is probably the many emotional clean guitar sections. There is a lot of feeling in the playing and the parts that have vocals over them match perfectly. These parts sound so beautiful that I’m totally willing to ignore how much they sound like Mikael Åkerfeldt.

Loneshore’s extreme metal parts are also good, and the fact that they’re willing to play fast at times adds some needed variation to their sound. I think the band’s atmospheric side is stronger than the metal side, but the band’s appeal doesn’t lie in one of them; it’s the fact that they really know how to write good songs. The songs on the album have great flow and emotion, and they’re fairly even in quality. I can’t really pick a favorite and I usually listen to the entire album in one spin.

“From Presence to Silence” also has a solid mix; one of many things that doesn’t make this album sound like the debut that is. I’m really impressed by the overall professionality from such an unknown act. There’s a notable attention to detail in everything from composition to playing and audio quality.

“From Presence to Silence” tracklist

1. The Quiet Visitor
2. Effigy
3. Winds of Ill Omen
4. Until the Last of Hopes
5. Daylight
6. From Presence to Silence

Creating something new of obvious influences

While Loneshore doesn’t have the most original pool of influences, the band incorporates them well to create something different. I’m very impressed by the songwriting and emotion on “From Presence to Silence”. This is one of the best doom albums from 2018 in my book, and the band probably has a bright future if they continue creating music like this. And once again, a big extra plus for the amazing cover art!