Lost Souls – Lore [Album Review]

Review: JD Garrahy

Be still my nerdy fucking heart.
Yeah, that’s how this review is starting and no other way. Prepare to have your mind and heart simultaneously bent over and pegged in ways that you can only previously imagine. This is Lost Souls and they’re about to change the metalcore game with their debut album, Lore.

I wasn’t sure where to begin with this review as when this album first landed in my inbox, I wasn’t sure if I was about to listen to the musings of a brilliant mind, or if this was a tongue-in-cheek shot at the metalcore genre we all admire and cherish so dearly. What I got however, and yeah, I’m going to call it this early in the year once more, is my Album of The Year. Prepare thyself, to delve into your childhood, tug at your heartstrings and maybe spoil a little pop culture in the process.

With an introduction of pure philosophical genius, as well as some intricately composed instrumentals, Existence/Conflict lures you into an album that is about to hit every emotional bone in your body. Like I said before, it’s gonna cut deep and there’s nothing you can do about it. Like and Subscribe builds to the heaviness that we want from this genre, but oh no, the lyrical content makes this track the perfect opener, taking the piss out of a society truly lost in the ‘15 minutes of fame’ obsession that has made the current generation the inattentive, Dis respective shits they claim not to be. This is probably a good time for me to point out that I’m a bitter and jaded old man that sees Mike Judge’s Idiocracy coming into reality before my very eyes, and I’m not fucking happy about it. Deal with it.

Up next, My Soldiers Rage. A dedication to the anime brilliance of Attack On Titan, one of the truly original Manga to anime adaptations of modern times. Now, we cannot excuse the fact that this track pushes vocalist Kev‘s chords to the brink but also gives guitarist/clean vox prodigy Knox a hefty way to display such epic talent.

xMOSHLORDx takes us into the familiar territory of the metalcore genre and also gains Jon from The Ghost Inside on guest vocals. Fucking incredible to say the least, but also the back-and-forth banter in the lyrical content between Kev and Jon brings a smile to your face as we’ve all had a similar conversation at a gig. Admit it, you have.

Letter of Resignation is definitely how I’m going to quit my job one day. Now, it must be said that not only are the lyrics fantastic, but the instrumentals provided by Casey, Jovi, Yosh, and Knox to accompany them is face melting at its finest.

Here it is the ‘ballad’ of the album. This track fucking slaps and if you don’t want X-Men ‘97 ruined for you, it’s time to close this article, or scroll past this paragraph. When you have an iconic series rebooted and executed so beautifully, the way this track is structured could’ve slotted into the soundtrack to the death of Gambit (I’m not crying, you fucking are. Leave me alone, I’m not ready to face this pain yet). Perfectly splicing in the original theme song into a powerful ballad riff was not something easily undertaken, but the crushing genius of this band made it look as easy as writing a kids song about fruit salad.

Dopamine. Well shit, this seems like a track that sums up the day-to-day bullshit that is my life. Welcome to the realms of ADHD Land. Where we don’t remember anything important yet remember everything unessential. But like Kev says, he’s ‘too busy writing fucking bangers’ in the same way that I’m racking my brain to write a review that is engaging enough to not hit that dreaded monosyllabic dead zone. I can’t wait to be singing along to this track live at the top of my lungs “Give me dopamine. Give me doooope-ahh-miiiiinnne!”

Shallow Grave is up next, and I REALLY hope this is a reference to the cinematic masterpiece that is the Danny Boyle film of the same name. Knox really shines on this track but hell, Kev hits some amazing gutturals as well. A true stand out track for a debut and sure to be a fan favourite.

The Return gives us our first foray into the Star Wars fandom and if you’ve heard this track and studied the lyrics, it is plain to see that the galaxy far far away is one of Kev‘s true passions. I feel ya man, I feel ya. Marking out the return of Luke Skywalker in The Mandalorian, this was one of those moments that you instantly sat up and took notice of. He was unforgiving, a fully skilled Jedi and well, just fucking brutal. Akin to his father at the end of Rogue One this was the Luke we needed and deserved. Lost Souls just pointed it out intricately where our brains couldn’t put the thoughts together coherently. Thanks legends.

Boosters or Plastic Crack. Fuck sake guys! Are you stalking me? Because if you are, that would be super (points if you get that reference). For quite a few years, I was a slave to plastic crack and this track pretty much sums up those years for me. It’s a real addiction, don’t let anyone tell you differently. The only difference here is I never offered fellatio in an alleyway to get a fix. Welcome to the life of a pop culture tragic, the 80’s shaped us, commercialism enabled us.

Our final track is here and if you’ve followed this band since this track dropped then you know exactly what I’m about to write. Childhood Died hit social media and blew up in ways that we couldn’t imagine. Posing serious questions and bringing to light some massive Star Wars plot holes. This song gave Lost Souls the opportunity to become the voice of the voiceless (or much more likely, the socially awkward and inept). Now, you couple all this with some killer riffage, crushing bass lines and some of the best percussion we’ve had on offer in recent years, and it fast became the track that put this band on the map. While it’s the perfect way to close out the album, it saddens me deeply that this musical pop culture journey is over but left me very satisfied with what I’d endured.

If you’ve been looking for the perfect mix of everything you love in pop culture with some musical geniuses to bring it to life, then do not pass up this album. Lost Souls are here, and they intend to dominate like Luke Skywalker against a seemingly unstoppable force of Dark Troopers aboard Moff Gideon’s suspiciously butt plug shaped Light Cruiser. Prepare for the Lore of Lost Souls.