Lustre
The Ashes of Light

When I first heard Lustre and this new album I thought that it was to be something along the lines of The Birthday Massacre as the synths in the beginning was giving that impressing. Then the vocals started, with that black metal noise this feeling was ruined and the hope for something fun and interesting was shattered as well. Lustre is a one-man band with pretty large discography and it also turned out that it is from the same area as me. But as I am quite ignorant about the local metal as well as Lustre, it is the first time I hear what the guy has to offer.

And it is black metal but with lots of synths, kind of synth-pop even. That in itself feels like a fresh thought, too bad the songs are middle-of-the-road stuff. The album is like a one-track thing that flows in the same style from beginning to end – not much really happens throughout the almost fifty minutes that it goes on. Almost more like a soundtrack to a home improvement tv-show or something than like a fierce and exciting new black metal album. The sound is great though and the synths are pretty brilliant as well, but the monotony isn’t as great.

Sure, there are things to like but going down a cautious and almost cowardly road makes for an ultimately pretty uninteresting and bland album. Elevator music or background when you repaint that white wall or fence. I have heard many albums that are more interesting and trying not to alienate listeners is never a good route to go, it is always better to go for broke and make something that can go down well or be hated – this is just nothing. Some reviewer wrote that Lustre’s album always receives a lukewarm reception, if that is accurate it doesn’t surprise me as it is music that everyone can listen to and no one really hate but that no one really loves. Apparently though, Lustre has a big following and many streams on that streaming service that most use so not everyone shy away from inoffensive bland music.

These wonderful synths deserved to be heard as part of something a lot more exciting than this one. It is nice enough as background music but that is not a good virtue for something I really want to listen to. Still, perhaps it is a good substitute for the pills if you have problems sleeping, monotony usually works well in that regard.

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