LUTHARO
LUTHARO “Chasing Euphoria”
By Dr. Abner Mality
Here’s another quality band from up north in Canada. I missed out on their debut “Hiraeth” and that now seems like a mistake after hearing “Chasing Euphoria”. LUTHARO combines aggressive melodic death metal with the bombast of symphonic power metal and tops it off with outstanding female vocals that excel with both harsh screams and heavenly melodies. A number of bands have tried a similar combination of sounds, but LUTHARO does it about as well as anyone.
After the usual brief intro, they put the hammer down right away with “Reaper’s Call” which hits like prime ARCH ENEMY including the harsh vocals of Krista Shipperbottom. Then Krista slips easily into crystal clear melodic tones almost along the lines of EVANESCENCE but shaped into a sprightly power metal type chorus. Krista is a real revelation and excels at both ends of the vocal spectrum. This pendulum like swing between melodeath and catchy power metal is the very essence of LUTHARO and the rest of the band more than hold their own with Krista’s work, including strong drumming and shredding lead solos.
They also integrate bombastic symphonic sounds ala RHAPSODY OF FIRE but don’t go totally overboard with them.. The last two tracks “Paradise or Parasite” and “Freedom of the Night” emphasize the more epic and orchestral aspects, but I think LUTHARO’s strength lies in muscular bashers like “Time To Rise” and “Strong Enough To Fall”.
Will strict death metal rivet heads and gorehounds be into LUTHARO’s style? Probably not, but this band has the ability to reach beyond the usual power metal nerds and attract fans of more aggressive styles as well. This is a strong piece of work.