Reviewed:January, 2021
Released: 2020/Independent
Rating: 4/5
Reviewer: Cristóbal Torres
Crescent Lament is a band from Taiwan born in 2007, their sound is the combination of symphonic metal with traditional music from their country. They debuted in 2008 with the release of their EP: THE FORGOTTEN WINTER. Their first album was released ten years ago and it is the only one they have presented entirely in English: BEHIND THE LETHAL DECEIT (2011). That work was followed in 2015: 花 殤. It was at the end of last year that they presented their most recent work entitled: LAND OF LOST VOICES (2020).
Their music is very pleasant to the ear because it is not far from other groups of the genre at all, except for the fact of respecting their language and not singing in English. However, this does not affect the enjoyment of their music at any time. Muer Chou’s voice is a high impact; she is a soprano performer whose vocal beauty becomes a delight even when we don’t know what she is saying, unless you speak her language.
The guitars are present to give distortion to the compositions; the melodic aspect is given entirely to the voice of Muer and to the erhu, played by Jedi Yeh, a kind of violin that gives a lot of color to the work of Crescent Lament. “Ominous Shadows” is a great example of how a melody built from erhu can sound great. All the pieces that make up Land of Lost Voices are provided with a melodic hook, using very western structures and ways of making music.
Despite being a band that has gone ahead without the support of any label, their work has a professional level production. The mixing of the album was made in Sweden and its mastering was at Finnvox Studios themselves. The complexity of its instrumental level ends up being perfectly captured in the sound of this work, making LAND OF LOST VOICES a completely enjoyable album from beginning to end. Their compositions are effective and immersive enough to be enjoyed regardless of language.
