Written by mz on 28.06.2021 at 23:44

The vocals have been their shitties part for a long time and that did not change here.

Do you mean you think the vocalist isn't good or that the vocals aren't appropriate for the music?

Written by chomskeet on 28.06.2021 at 23:46

Yeah, I definitely hear you. I mean, I love Leprous and I really really wanted to like their new sound, especially since it took a little bit for me to get into their less metal (yet still amazing imo) sound. It really took a long time, I actually disliked Coal at first, however, that eventually became my favorite album of theirs, it just took time to grow on me. Therefore, I really wanted to give their new sound a shot. Alas, it's just so fundamentally removed from metal that I can't get into it aside from his amazing voice and some tight jazzy parts. That's not enough to keep me coming back..... I do agree that many people in general, as well as on this site, really get invested in their favorite bands. This has even gotten to the point of potentially compromising one of the coolest parts of this site, the review system, by sandbagging (giving low scores like 3) their favorite band's competitors in the top rated albums of the year. You will notice an average score on this site that has substantially trended downwards over the years and I believe unbridled fandom leading to sandbagging to be at least partially responsible. I also thought it quizzical that so many users were giving what I saw as an undo amount of props to the new Leprous not so metal sound. However, it may just be that you and I aren't really prog/lighter music listeners, I don't see much in your favorites, and I dislike most prog sans a few standouts, and therefore the lighter the sound gets the less palatable for us? If I want "soft" I'll listen to some atmoblack like Aquilus lol

I never really liked most of the prominent prog metal bands. E.g. I can't stand Dream Theater and couldn't even name a single song title. But it has nothing to do with the softness. I love many softer sounding bands, e.g. Anathema - Eternity is one of my all time favourite albums, alongside Earthside - A Dream in Static (check it out if haven't already). I also love a lot of alternative metal bands and lots and lots of stoner bands. There's something about prog metal that sounds forced and somewhat pretentious to me. Can't really put my finger on it TBH

Written by RaduP on 28.06.2021 at 23:31

Written by SchrödingersDog on 27.06.2021 at 11:48

Written by RaduP on 26.06.2021 at 19:32

I listen to a lot of similar music, I'd probably find out about them anyway.

Out of curiosity: Could you name some similar bands? I love the direction Leprous took and struggle to find artists with a similar approach.

Not sure exactly how similar I can each of these are, and whether or not they would scratch the itch you're looking for, but the ones that come to mind the most is Radiohead's latest album or Steven Wilson's latest album. Other than that, there's bits of Perfume Genius, Kings Kaleidoscope, Feu! Chatterton, Moulettes, Bent Knee, alt-J, Moonface, Moses Sumney, Everything Everything, Elbow, Ghost Poet and Kalandra.

You forgot Agent Fresco!

Written by Troy Killjoy on 29.06.2021 at 00:48


Do you mean you think the vocalist isn't good or that the vocals aren't appropriate for the music?

I think for the most part it is garbage when he goes extra soft regardless of the musical style. Can't imagine a situation where "aaaahh aahhhh aaahhh" is not cringy and annoying.
This is an issue that did not exist much in their earlier works so I'm unhappy with their direction.

Written by mz on 01.07.2021 at 02:16

I think for the most part it is garbage when he goes extra soft regardless of the musical style. Can't imagine a situation where "aaaahh aahhhh aaahhh" is not cringy and annoying.
This is an issue that did not exist much in their earlier works so I'm unhappy with their direction.

To be fair, some of his vocals on Tall Poppy Syndrome are even more annoying, they are the sole reason why I hate this album and never listen to it.

It's not the vocals that I have a problem with when it comes to Leprous. It's the direction they took. "Malina" was already a big change of sound, but it was also a solid album which I still re-visit often. Unfortunately, "Pitfalls" was a misstep (apart from a few songs). This new song heralds another misstep, assuming it's a good indicator of how the whole new album will sound.

Written by Daniell on 01.07.2021 at 12:33


To be fair, some of his vocals on Tall Poppy Syndrome are even more annoying, they are the sole reason why I hate this album and never listen to it.

It's not the vocals that I have a problem with when it comes to Leprous. It's the direction they took. "Malina" was already a big change of sound, but it was also a solid album which I still re-visit often. Unfortunately, "Pitfalls" was a misstep (apart from a few songs). This new song heralds another misstep, assuming it's a good indicator of how the whole new album will sound.

Vocals were not perfect on TPS either, but I loved the music so much there that I could overlook the vocals. That is not happening here.
I agree that Mallina was not a bad album. However, I cant hide the fact that I prefer them on Bilateral by a large margin and that stops me from enjoying anything they have done post 2015.

The string section plus subdued bits had me thinking of "Sleep Together" from Fear of a Blank Planet. Not a bad place to borrow from.

It's a miracle that I liked this, but I do think I'll be filing it under 'guilty pleasure' and await for Aphelion with some hope.

Written by chomskeet on 28.06.2021 at 21:11

Written by BCI on 28.06.2021 at 11:17

Written by Lanthros on 27.06.2021 at 00:42

I don't think you know what pop is. And you certainly have a VERY warped sense of what metal is and what metalheads listen to. Go sit down in the corner with the other stereotypes.

That's a little pretentious and very condescending thing to say to someone you know nothing about. I am not going to sit here and lecture you on pop culture. You are clearly not worth it. Now STFU

Not to jump in here and correct me if I'm wrong but I think when MorbidAngel13 said "pop song" what they meant was "their recent direction is extremely different than their outstanding back catalog and appears to be potentially motivated towards enhancing their popularity outside of the metal scene." It seems that they and I listen to a lot of the same stuff, tech and black, so I have to say compared to my usually tastes that this song does sound like "pop"/popular music to me too (ie music that is relatively universally palatable to the masses). A more nuanced explanation below

Leprous is one of my absolute favorite bands (top 20 of all time I'd say), well old Leprous that is. I for one would not know about them at all if they didn't start out as a metal band but I pretty much listen only to metal. Their new stuff is OK I guess, but nothing I would ever listen to more than once and I think at best we could call some of the elements "metal adjacent" if we want to stretch it. It sounds to me like there are popularity/financial/selling out reasons for their change in sound, however, I could be totally wrong. Maybe they just evolved as artists and don't like metal anymore, that is totally within their rights. They have been steadily distancing of themselves from the metal genre, and I've liked their work even as it drifted away from metal so maybe it is true that they simply evolved. However, imo they have drifted way too far for my taste. I honestly think this song is fucking awful and the miracle part makes me cringe. Nonetheless, I wish them all the best, the metal scene is not one most bands get compensated well for so I'm not really judging them even if they did "sell out."

A good point well made. I think it's worth pointing out though the frame of reference you mentioned that you both share - that of being fans of tech and black. Its worth remembering that those are some very extreme genres, and are far removed from what the average non-metal listener will ever hear.

From your frame of reference you could see The Black Album as a pop album, whereas the average pop listener might listen to Hail to the King by Avenged Sevenfold and consider it to be too harsh and heavy.

Leprous have always have had pop leanings, primarily in the vocals, but now that they've dialed down the distortion and moved to a more repetition based compositional style they are definitely more visible. The "miracle" section in particular stands out in this track, because it feels very out of place with the whole mood and feel of the rest of the track. But in my opinion just because they're pop leanings are more apparent doesn't make it a pop song.

In fact I think Leprous might even still constitute a difficult listen for even the average rock listener, because of their choice of rhythm, harmony, and dissonances.