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Lost Soul > Übermensch (Death of God) > Reviews
Lost Soul - Übermensch (Death of God)

Relentless - 85%

dismember_marcin, January 9th, 2020

It's been a long time since I've listened to anything from Lost Soul, indlucing their second LP "Übermensch (Death of God)". Which is a shame, because I nearly forgot how good this album is and how underrated it seems. Well, it's good opportunity then to wipe the dust off this vinyl and listen to it again, also presenting this record to you in form of this short review. It's been unleashed back in 2002, which a time, where death metal was slowly rising back to its greatness, after the not so impressive late 90's period. With albums such as "Übermensch (Death of God)", it again started to sound very exciting and interesting. And when I listen to this album now, I think that certainly it is one of the best Polish death metal albums ever recorded. Which has to mean something, if you know how strong the Polish scene is.

Well, but not always "Übermensch (Death of God)" belonged to my favourites. At the time when it was released, it took me a while to appreciate it. I still remember that after few listens, I was a bit disappointed with it, mainly because I didn't like how Lost Soul incorporated keyboards into their sound. I thought it was only ruining this brutal and fast death metal album. Only later I got used to it and now I know that keyboards perfectly complement the dark and sinister (sometimes almost cosmic) atmosphere of the music. There's a lot of them (keyboards I mean), I don’t think you will be able to mention many other death metal albums, where keyboards would be so active. On one hand it can remind you Nocturnus a little, on the other, sometimes it can even remind you a black metal record. But the result is very good, especially when Lost Soul plays with the speed of light and their music becomes so relentless and vicious. And fast is the majority of "Übermensch (Death of God)", most of the songs blast with no remorse, like an unstoppable death machine or tornado, which destroys everything on its way.

There are also few slower parts, which crush with great heaviness (like in the fantastic "Soul Hunger"), so diversity is another very strong aspect of "Übermensch (Death of God)". Riffs can often remind you not only Nocturnus, but also late Morbid Angel and... Well, I also have to mention Behemoth (“To the New Light!”). Already the first song "No Salvation" leave no doubt what are the biggest influences for Lost Soul. But everything here sounds spotless, I really like these songs, ideas and riffs, which Lost Soul came up with and also Jarek Grecki's vocals, who do sound a bit like Steve Tucker haha. Still, Lost Soul has enough identity and its own style to stand proud and strong, so I have no doubt that they’re one of the best Polish death metal bands and "Übermensch (Death of God)" is one of their better records.

Standout tracks: “Soul Hunger”, “To the New Light!”, “Beast Rising”
Verdict: 85/10o

Completely unremarkable but very satisfying - 78%

Noktorn, January 16th, 2010

Fast Polish death metal. Would it surprise you to hear that this sounds essentially like Behemoth, Vader, Nomad, etc.? Because Lost Soul sounds like a pretty even blend of all of those, just somewhat faster and more brutal. I'm not sure if it's something in the water in Poland or what but just about every band from this particular scene has intrinsic commonalities in riffcraft and song structures that makes it possible to spot their nation of origin from a mile away. Fortunately, music produced in this style is typically very good, and this isn't any different, so I can't complain.

The main difference between this and Behemoth or Vader is that this is a fair bit faster, generally moving at Aeonesque speeds and laying the blast beats on nice and thick. The riffs are straight out of the Behemoth school, owing a great deal to the faster material from that band's mid-period; nothing here would sound out of place on 'Thelema.6', so they have a sort of innate catchiness to them which makes this a very enjoyable listen. Drum blasts, vocals growl or sometimes scream, and all the songs sort of blur together in a pleasant way. I doubt you're listening to music like this for the incredible variation anyway. I guess the upshot is that this is still quite well executed despite the simplicity of the style and can maintain your interest over multiple listens without getting stale. The nice production and fairly vehement overall delivery contributes to it; this wouldn't be quite as fun if the band didn't sound so outrageously pissed through every note.

Your enjoyment of this will essentially hinge on whether you like fast, heavy death metal on its own terms or just tend to enjoy certain bands that happen to embody that style. This is a genre piece through and through and nothing (apart from maybe the very cheesy and generally unnecessary keyboards) really breaks from the established Polish death metal mold. It's still very fun and worth listening to if you enjoy that whole thing though.

MY LOST SOUL IS FOUND! - 98%

JohnnyWalker, January 7th, 2007

Holy fucking dog balls!!! I have this album on vinyl and I have to tell you, I was NOT expecting to look into the 9th level of Dante's Inferno through my speakers! "The Dawn" is the beginning track for "Death of God" and lays down this dark, ambient and somewhat futuristic atmosphere and then all of a sudden, BOOM! You are smashed in the face with a 90 pound sledgehammer at neck-breaking speeds. "No Salvation" is the next song and the guitars, drums and bass are blazing and ready for battle.

The guitars are consist with some death metal riffage at 200 mph and technique, but is scattered with melodic hooks and melodies. The solos are rather short and I was hoping to hear more of them; but they are scorching with sweeps, wah effects and you can tell they were well thought out because they sound like they are in the same key (I don't know for sure because my ear isn't that great) and they don't sound like they were just pulled out of they're asses. They also sound to some extent like thrash solos.

"Death of God" also contains keyboards. I usually don't like keyboards because they are just extremely cheesy sometimes but "Lost Soul" can pull it off very well. They are syncopated with the guitars and accent certain areas of the tremolo picking melodic parts. They are not over used which is the best thing about them. They are used to the point in which you will be addicted to the melody. They are spread out vastly through out the album, which is also nice.

The drums on this album are incredible. They are precise, defined and fairly rigid. They are the muscle system of the album and make it sound like a fucking power house! There is blast beats, which can get old from time to time, but the drums are like the keyboards in a certain sense because they are syncopated and accent with a majority of the guitar work but the drums of course are there constantly. This kind of drumming is some of the best kind because of the technicality and the way it allows the music to become one entity.

The vocals sound like and remind me of Nergal from Behemoth at certain times because he has this raspy, gruff and powerful quality to it, which actually has the ability to empower you to go and join Satan’s army. I know for certain I will be leaving this vinyl on the turntable for a while and I highly recommend this purchase!