Band:	Lantlôs
Album:	.neon
Style:	Post-rock, Atmospheric black metal
Release date:	June 14, 2010
A review by:	KwonVerge

01. Minusmensch
02. These Nights Were Ours
03. Pulse / Surreal
04. Neige De Mars
05. Coma
06. Neon

Lantlôs, another band blending shoegaze with black metal and since their debut album only Herbst has remained from the first line-up, guess who joined in as the vocalist for their second effort .Neon, yes, Neige! In a manner of speaking he seems to be patronizing the new-born central european scene with his pressence and imagine who made the cover artwork, I'm pretty sure it reminds you of something, yes, top score! Les Discrets' Fursy Teyssier is responsible for this beautiful piece of abstract and pleasing to the eye art.

Despite its gentle outbursting moments with Neigel's howling screams, .Neon is an album that doesn't unfold immediately its beauty, it's one of those albums I'd refer to as a kind of a grower, it requires a few spins until it starts utterly injecting everything it has to say. Of course I would never call it inaccessible, the truth lies somewhere inbetween, it's just that the atmosphere it evokes has "something" that you really need to get into, nothing more, nothing less and when you do there's no turning back. Acoustic guitars, harmonic melodies or kindly distorted continuous riffing overflow the album and whenever Neige's interpretation enters the stage he forms a more agonizing aura, whereas his clean chanting calms the beast inside. The drums & percussion play their part as well with their work enriching the soundscape, balancing in an appropriate way with the pulsating bass lines and the current atmosphere any moment.

When desolation met tranquility .Neon was born from the ashes of their conflict. Intense, but heart-felt, melancholic, but soothing also, inside four walls, but with a travelling aspect as well, this is Lantlôs and if this bittersweet contradiction the shoegaze/black metal blending is whispers something to your ears, then .Neon will be a pleasant and inspired companion. Lantlôs may close doors, but they open windows for you to escape and with every step you make you feel more and more enclosed in the labyrinth of euphoria they managed to create in their sound envelope within 39 minutes. "Coma".