{"id":19282,"date":"2012-03-15T11:45:14","date_gmt":"2012-03-15T16:45:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=19282"},"modified":"2013-01-29T10:05:12","modified_gmt":"2013-01-29T15:05:12","slug":"lanfear-this-harmonic-consonance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2012\/lanfear-this-harmonic-consonance\/","title":{"rendered":"Lanfear | This Harmonic Consonance<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Derric Miller<\/span>
\nStaff Writer —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"On the German-based band Lanfear\u2019s sixth studio album, This Harmonic Consonance<\/em>, we are once again exposed to one of the most glaringly underrated bands on the planet. (Which by the way, is how they tout themselves on their website. It just happens to be surgically accurate.) They\u2019ve been around since 1994 (demo) and in 1996 released their first studio album. Through lineup changes, multiple labels, and of course a tanking industry rife with thieves and cowards, they somehow forge ahead and yes, give their fans another unique, melodically aggressive (and at one point jazzy!) creation in This Harmonic Consonance.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, like most bands of this ilk, they begin with a monotonous instrumental that is only 1:06 in length. Next \u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cColours of Chaos\u201d is the first real track, and you\u2019ll be pumped by guitarist Ulle\u2019s almost Jeff Waters-like riffing. It\u2019s caustic and machinelike in its mechanical fury. The vocalist, Nuno, is a multi-faceted talent who allows them to get near thrash levels in guttural chaos yet can also croon and nail high, falsetto shrieks. Oh, and at 2:55 into the song, it\u2019s the aforementioned Jazz quotient, with Nuno breathily singing with an understated soft falsetto \u2026 but then they get back to the anthemic speeds again. One \u201cpoetic\u201d note is that they call the song \u201cColours of Chaos\u201d but sing throughout the song \u201cThe colours of existence.\u201d So \u2026 chaos=existence.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy-Product Nation\u201d is a little more accessible if merely for the flowing, happily melodic keys from Richer. And the album is obviously a deconstruction of mankind\u2019s continually bleary devolution, because the lyrics like \u201cworst expectations come true\u201d show that Lanfear is paying attention, even if no one else seems to be.<\/p>\n

If you get into a spelling competition with the guys, you\u2019ll probably lose, even if it\u2019s an attempt to create neologisms. For instance, \u201cIdiopathic Discreation.\u201d It\u2019s refreshing to listen to a band write such existential lyrics to perfectly mirror the complicated tempo changes, off-time rhythms, and backbone of the song. It\u2019s haunting when they end the chorus and ask \u2026 \u201cWhere is God?\u201d or admit \u201cI\u2019ll walk this path until I die.\u201d<\/p>\n

And don\u2019t forget the mechanization of the human race. Lanfear surely didn\u2019t on \u201cI, Robo Sapiens.\u201d (So they read Phil Dick and play off his ideas \u2026 but maybe it should have been \u201cI, Electric Sheep.\u201d Regardless \u2026). This is one of the highly accessible songs, a composition that any Metal fan can embrace, even if you don\u2019t dissect lyrics. It has that double-bass shotgun start\/stop, haunting accompanying backing vocals on the chorus, and just an overall expert \u2026 everything.<\/p>\n

At this point, you get the idea. Calling themselves underrated doesn\u2019t make it any less true. This is one of the best releases of the year thus far, and they found themselves on a label in Pure Steel that seems to be behind their bands 100 percent. The underdog has to win some year \u2026 maybe This Harmonic Consonance<\/em> will make it Lanfear\u2019s year.<\/p>\n

Genre: Progressive, Power Metal<\/p>\n

Band:
\nNuno Miguel de Barros Fernandes\/vocals
\nMarkus “Ulle” Ullrich\/guitars
\nKai “Schinde” Schindelar\/bass
\nRichie “Richer” Seibel\/keys
\nJ\u00fcrgen “Gen” Schrank\/drums<\/p>\n

Track listing:
\n1. Giorno del Giudizio
\n2. Colours of Chaos
\n3. By-Product Nation
\n4. The Reverend
\n5. Idiopathic Discreation
\n6. Camera Silens
\n7. I, Robo Sapiens
\n8. Spectrophobia
\n9. Word Not Spoken
\n10. Disharmonic Consonance<\/p>\n

Label: Pure Steel Records<\/p>\n

Online: www.lanfear.eu<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 8.5\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Derric Miller Staff Writer — On the German-based band Lanfear\u2019s sixth studio album, This Harmonic Consonance, we are once again exposed to one of the most glaringly underrated bands on the planet. (Which by […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6772],"tags":[2317,4942,1097,2135,848,4943],"class_list":{"0":"post-19282","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-arcrvws2012","7":"tag-cd-review","8":"tag-lanfear","9":"tag-power-metal","10":"tag-progressive","11":"tag-pure-steel-records","12":"tag-this-harmonic-consonance"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19282"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19282\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}