Lyzanxia
Mindcrimes

January 2004
Released: 2003, Trepan
Rating: 3.5/5
Reviewer: Lord of the Wasteland

Lyzanxia is a French band featuring brothers David and Franck Potvin on vocals and guitars. One has a clean voice, the other a death growl. The band’s music is a mix of thrash, death, hard rock and even a bit of industrial. Famed Swedish producer Fredrik Nordstrom helmed the album and has given it his usual stellar touch. The cover and artwork in the booklet is also very eye-catching.



“Time Dealer” sounds like a missing track from Strapping Young Lad’s CITY album, while “Damnesia” sounds like John Bush on vocals and features an old-school thrash finale that reminded me of vintage Testament. On the other hand, “Dusk” is a slower song with a very catchy chorus.



The interplay of the clean/death vocal dynamic is always interesting, though certainly not original. The music on the other hand is excellent. I really didn’t know what to think of these guys and I was pleasantly surprised. The songs are well-structured and offer a bit of everything. Whether this could be construed as “directionless” or “innovative” is up in the air but Lyzanxia make it work on MINDCRIMES.



KILLER KUTS: “Time Dealer”