Lugosi's Needle
The Light That Failed
4.8
I can't say I'm ever excited to review submissions. While good metal is oh-so-good, bad metal is really abominably bad. Sometimes there's an obvious reason why some bands remain unsigned and unknown. Lugosi's Needle, while not the most notable band to come out of New York, show a lot of promise if they can shed a few of their hindrances.
Try to think of a more pedestrian and less distinctive version of Soilent Green with some clear singing and more proggy/complex guitar riffing. Beginning with more of a tech/math sound, "Onward to Obliteration" makes the transition into a groovy southern song, partly due to the vocals. The technical guitar playing continues, but the song returns to that dissonant slamming southern feel. "Bastard Champion of the Weak", the second song, is actually appropriately titled as it's one of the more boring songs I've ever heard. I feel like I'm listening to one of the countless local bands that wants to beat me up for some reason. It picks up slightly in the middle and begins to take a different shape, but they're unable to rekindle my interest. The final track on the release, "Speak Not To Her", is probably the most direct and accessible track, borrowing NYDM slam-riffs and merging them with some interesting disharmonic guitar parts. While I don't believe this is their forte and that Lugosi's Needle is capable of much more, it's the most "together" of all the tracks.
Alright - screw the reviewer in me. I'm going to say exactly what I want to say in hopes that the band sees this review. They're not doing anything that'll keep anyone's attention. That's the problem. There's interesting material and there's real shit. I don't like the chugging and simple riffs combined with the wanky guitar solos. There's nothing wrong with either of them, but they don't sound good together. I don't like the scathing death/vocals with the southern singing. Ditch the singing. I do like the slower dissonant parts as well as the more unique guitar riffs. I don't like the techy shit. I don't like the inconsistent rhythm. I don't like the talking. It's possible to incorporate all of these things into good music, maybe - but you need a firm foundation to hold them all together and right now Lugosi's Needle doesn't have that, so it all sounds cut and pasted.
Lugosi's Needle are sort of homeless in the metal world; Too talented to be written off but too aimless to be seriously considered. I'd really like to see Lugosi's Needle narrow their interests down and go out on a limb with something. Keep the tech and ditch the vocals, ditch the tech and keep the metalcore parts, keep the vocals and ditch the slam riffs - I don't care. But do something. As I've seen on another website, they list their influences as anywhere from Karlheinz Stockhausen and John Cage to Dillinger Escape Plan and Cephalic Carnage. So they've got the right idea, they just need to perfect the formula. As it stands, for a nearly unknown DIY act, this shows a lot of potential.
