The Last of Lucy Brings Another Level of Heaviness

Tech-death band based out of Huntington Beach, CA The Last of Lucy just released their new album Moksha last Friday February 18th on Transcending Obscurity Records. Compared to their previous album Ashvattha, overall the songs are shorter, more jam-packed, heavier, and carries a darker vibe. A thing that really stood out to me in general is the immaculate quality of sound production. No instrument is buried, the double bass kicks are prominent, dynamics of the vocals are clear, and guitar and bass tones shine in their own realm.

In this album there are more use of diminished key signatures to create an even more ominous aura. Looking back at Ashvattha, the sound was a little more progressive, jazz and more virtual instruments involved. But with Moksha there are more mathcore and grindcore-esque elements.

The track “Ritual of Abraxas” withholds haunting synths towards the outro. It hones in on an even more killer atmosphere with the bass doing some really cool tapping as well.

The absolute most crushing and heavy track to me would have to be “Aforethought” with blistering blasting and double bass kicks from the drums along with shredding guitar. And then the verse focuses on an extremely heavy groove. I can’t get over how sick the guitar tone is here too.

The song with the most melodic guitar passages would most likely be “Temple of Rati”. The guitar and bass tapping riff is catchy as fuck and all over the place. This number has a lot to say in context of soundscapes, directions and variety of metal. I would lose my mind seeing this one live for sure.

My favorite track off the album is “The Demiurge”. The riffs are dissonant while providing a euphoric energy, which is a difficult task to pull off. An absolutely amazing guitar solo is towards the end of the song followed by Origin-style out of this world sweeping.

The vocals in the album have some insane lows and a variety of depth in general. I think my favorite style from vocalist Josh De Le Sol are his unique gutturals too. The lyrical themes and subject matter throughout are expansive and in-depth as well. Throughout the whole album there is calculated drumming and relentless double bass speeds. And to me the bass guitar stands out even more on this album compared to Ashvattha.

I would give this album a 7.5 out of 10. My only critique is the length of songs but at the same time I understand when you’re writing in a more grindcore-esque manner, it makes more sense. But The Last of Lucy are definitely still technical death metal at the end of the day. Their song structures are just more condensed which is not a piece of cake to map out with the number of riffs they still provide as well. I personally like their more prog elements from Ashvattha is all. But nonetheless, the album is killer and I can’t wait to see this live one day. I will always support these guys and cannot wait to see their next spin on the metal world in their releases to come. Cheers!

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Author: Tom Sundgren

Categories: News, Reviews, The Last Of Lucy