Band:	Luck Wont Save You
Album:	Through The Mountains Of Melancholia
Style:	Progressive deathcore
Release date:	September 13, 2024
A review by:	musclassia

01. Red Mother, Blue Sun
02. Through The Mountains Of Melancholia
03. White Myth Of The Monolith
04. Wandering Wayfarer's Woe
05. Necrotic Chant
06. Uzu Sol
07. The Needle Points Nowhere
08. Aperture Hermit
09. Immortal Dreamer

Luck Wont Save You is a band that disappeared almost as swiftly as they arrived in their first iteration, but version 2 of the band is turning out to be far more enduring and productive.

Said first iteration existed between 2008 and 2010, when a five-man line-up released a demo, EP and full album before disbanding; several years later (different official sources from the band state either 2013 or 2014), the original founding duo of drummer Jared Klein (Rivers Of Nihil, Flub) and vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Russell Eck revived the project, re-recording the debut and releasing a slew of EPs in the process. While the core line-up has remained a duo, the pair have made extensive use of guest musicians, several of whom (including Bobby Carroll of Cyborg Octopus and Blackwater Burial’s Eli Slamang) have made recurring cameos, including on new album Through The Mountains Of Melancholia, the culmination of a decade’s progress.

Pre-hiatus Luck Wont Save You (yes, the apostrophe is officially absent from their name) were a deathcore band, albeit not rigidly so, but the project’s sound has become more progressive and technical since their comeback. Come 2024, their sound can be most easily described by referencing another band, although unlike some other bands this year like Piah Mater or Ubiquity, it is not Opeth whose shadow lurks over this album. Instead, new listeners of Through The Mountains Of Melancholia will likely find their minds going instantly to Between The Buried And Me, as the resemblance is fairly unmistakable.

It's evident right from the first song (the longest on the album), as are the band’s deathcore roots; amongst the eclectic synths, mathcore chop-changing rhythms, and technical riffs and leads, there’s also a few breakdowns scattered throughout. The title track largely picks up where “Red Mother, Blue Sun” leaves off, but after a frantic beginning, it gives a window into Luck Wont Save You’s range. The song shifts into a chill jazzy clean guitar passage, and clean vocals are heard for the first time: first in a remarkably delicate high-pitched tone, and then lower and more full-voiced as the track becomes more bombastic. The melodicism is carried over to the instrumentation, which almost takes on a post-hardcore feel at its most upbeat. It’s a nice change of tone, as are the brash synth lines and lively melodic guitar solo (courtesy of Carroll) in following track “White Myth Of The Monolith”.

That being said, you’re never too far away from a section that practically screams ‘Between The Buried And Me’, whether it’s an early-discography brutal onslaught, a Colors-era display of guitar wizardry, quirkier keyboards, or even Tommy Rogers-esque vocal lines. The similarity is not quite as glaring as the one between the aforementioned bands and Opeth, but it’s strong enough that anyone who doesn’t enjoy Between The Buried And Me can save themselves the effort and stop reading further. It’s a very accomplished recapitulation of that style, though, with some great lead guitar riffs and motifs, dizzying math-like technicality, hectic extremity (replete with blasts, double bass rolls, guitar squeals and jarring dissonance), and ambitious progressive songwriting.

Some of the other surprising moments on Through The Mountains Of Melancholia include a couple of Latin clean guitar bits (in “Wandering Wayfarer’s Woe” and the otherwise abrasive “Uzu Sol”) and video game-style synths during “Aperture Hermit”. There’s also parts where Luck Wont Save You calm things right down; it’s only temporary during the restrained first half of “Necrotic Chant”, but “The Needle Points Nowhere” and closing song “Immortal Dreamer” eschew metal altogether in favour of ominous piano, keyboards and vocal duetting, the former channeling BTBAM’s Parallax-era sci-fi obsession, and the latter ending the record on an understated note.

The album does admittedly take a bit of time to get going, while also arguably peaking with the second and third songs, and the similarities to Between The Buried And Me are perhaps slightly too blatant at times, but it’s another solid addition to the year’s ever-growing range of quality extreme progressive metal albums.