The Age of Miracles Has Passed

With a line-up culled from members of such death metal luminaries as Nile, Monstrosity and Capharnaum, you know you're in for something seriously brutal and technical. What you didn't expect is frenetic death metal with quite this level of polish and flair. The Age of Miracles has Passed is really, really fucking fast. It's like a drive-by decapitation, but before murder charges can be pressed they've already decapitated the judge, the jury, your police department, your lawyer, and your lawyer's lawyer.

However, unlike many bands who just tear along their warpath with chaotic and technicality at the expense of all else, Lecherous Nocturne actually write some damn good riffs, and are not shy about toning it down ever so slightly to provide an extra level of depth. "We Are As Dust" is a good example of this strategy. The song begins by stripping all the paint and siding off your house like a razor blade whirlwind, but then takes a panoramic view of the destruction in the last minute. Then it fucking kills you.

But wait...in the midst of this modern, technical blowout, they never forget their roots! This is fucking death metal. Listen no further than the intro to "When the Single Shines the Tripled Sun" to hear some great, infectious old school riffing, and then they unleash. There are enough riffs across this record to fill up a dozen albums done by lesser bands, yet you never get lost within this labyrinth, appreciating each new turn or minotaur that presents itself. "Edict of Worms" is brutal. "Death Hurts Only the Living" puts the entire Hate Eternal discography to shame.

This is simply an unbelievable album that should be heard by all fans of technical death metal, it's one of the best examples of such this year. Especially fans of hyperkinetic death like Origin. It will be the talk of the town for every deathgrind scenester disappointed by the latest Cryptopsy, as it should be. Hats off to you, gentlemen, for a pretty killer and destructive effort, and a clear winner for Unique Leader records.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

This year 2008, Unique Leader is incredible, signing destructive brutal death metal bands, such Hour of Penance & Carnophage, and more recently Lecherous Nocturne. Native from Greenville, South Carolina, like Nile, this last band signed by the label of Erik & Jacoby is far from being unknown, having released the very good and too short Adoration of the Blade in 2006 on Deep Send Records, and also with prestigious members in its ranks, as Mike Poggionne & Chris Lollis, who plays respectively with Nile and Monstrosity.

With no line up change since his last album, except replacing Dallas Toller Wade (Nile) by Jeremy Nissenbaum behind the drums, Lecherous Nocturne joined the experienced Bob Moore (Nile) at Sound Lab Recording in spring 2008, for sessions of the worthy successor called The Age of Miracles Has Passed. Close to bands as Hate Eternal or Internecine, the band has not calmed down between his two albums, determined to crush all around its.

Sended into orbit by a delicate intro, the title Just War Theory quickly devastates everything in its path, impeccably supported by the powerful blast-beats of Jeremy, and the six strings bass of Mike, who impresses by his presence and also by the rhythmic complexity of his playing. On such a base, Chris & Kreishloff unleash their killing riffs, imposing a considerable force of blows, reinforced by the fractious guttural of Jason Hohenstein.

However, despite of an apparent brutality, The Age of Miracles is still far from a simple succession of blast-beats, breaking his regular pace to impose staggering passages, like killing tracks We Are As Dust & The Sun Tripled. In these moments, Chris & Kreishloff bring real power, superimposing their riffs, to provide an incredible shade and pushing the intensity of the songs, to achieve absolute power during the break of ruthless Edict of Worms and the final of Dominance of Fire.

Each title has thus the element that distinguishes its from each other, conferring in parallel the strenght and the overall balance. However, The Age of Miracles does not contain any solos, despite the impressive level of its guitarists, and also lasts only 28 minutes, representing its main shortcoming. Anyway, Lecherous Nocturne is not to blame because of repetition, most often by dropping its amazing riffs only once, providing a true death metal music concentrate.

Surpassing its predecessor in power, brutality and mastery, The Age of Miracles definitively hits Lecherous Nocturne among the most dangerous current death metal bands, standing directly in the bosom of his brothers of Hate Eternal, Nile & Origin, confirming the excellence of his label Unique Leader, and of this terrible year 2008.

Fabien.

There once was an age of miracles, but it actually passed. Lecherous Nocturne thought making an album about the topic would be sweet, so they did, and it’s called “The Age of Miracles Has Passed.” Ironically enough, miracles within this deceased place have indeed had enough and moved away: Lecherous Nocturne’s idea of bland technical death metal has no hope. For something so unoriginal, could one ever look at this lame CD and actually enjoy its content? I severely doubt a single soul could. After all, we need goods, and Lecherous Nocturne has not delivered what should have been packaged and mailed weeks ago.

To begin on a positive outlook, Lecherous Nocturne’s offering is only twenty-eight minutes in length, so the torment will be short. Alright, “The Age of Miracles Has Passed” is another technical death metal release, and it’s like pushing the random button multiple times when making a seating chart for kids: Chris intensely slides down the length of his guitar again and again without any sense of coherency, Jeremy blasts his way to the front and fills whenever he wishes, Mike just stays in the same spot with his bass, and Jason just growls at the teacher, because who enjoys sitting by girls, right? Try talentless douches, like these clowns. This record has not a hint of originality or intelligence; it’s just technical death metal without anything fun or amusing. They’ve got skill, but use no thought in their music.

Hell, the band thinks these crazy, unpredictable statements are so cool, that they just can’t do anything else! And then, the smoking gun: chaos becomes order. For every listener, the realization will occur, perhaps at different intervals, but I promise almost everyone experiencing Lecherous Nocturne’s technical blaze begins to expect the unexpected, and view complexity as simplicity. From utter insanity to blandness, “The Age of Miracles Has Passed” ages and withers away once its twenty-eight minutes of fallacious dung halts. Plus, whenever they finally stop and think about how loathsome their efforts have progressed, Lecherous Nocturne does doom filler. For instant results, just add doom filler! If you want results that totally sucks, anyway.

I don’t know what Lecherous Nocturne planned when creating this release, but I believe it was definitely defiled by the band’s nonsensical approach towards death metal. This item serves no purpose, and I personally wonder why anyone would ever review something as such and label it passable, let alone good enough for release. I think it’s laughably bad, plus I wouldn’t pee on Lecherous Nocturne’s second record because urine is frankly worth more. “The Age of Miracles Has Passed” is one of those albums that lacks energy and spice, even though instruments are flying everywhere like molecules in an atom smasher. I wouldn’t listen to it again if I was rewarded with something I enjoy.

This review was written for: www.Thrashpit.com