featured review #83: lynch. - AVANTGARDE

[togz 2004]

 

| AVANT GARDE but oh so predictable

 

lynch. has been around for some time when it comes to the history of modern J-rock bands. The band has released 9 albums, 15 singles, and 1 EP since their formation in 2004. The guys have managed to keep a steady and consistent sound despite some line-up changes. This sound revolves mostly around Hazuki's vocal style and melodic phrases. Though Hazuki's vocal strategy has yet to change, the groups instrumental phrasing alters a little with each release. Like any other artists, there's always a small group that doesn't approve of the musical direction. The main argument when it comes to lynch. is that they keep recycling the same formula. In most cases, opinions clash when artists change their sound completely or become a little more experimental with their sound. lynch. has stayed almost too consistent to this point, but somehow it works for them. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

AVANTGARDE is the newest addition to the bands discography and offers 12 new tracks. The title is quite vague and opens some space for creativity and exploration, but falls a little short of these expectations. "AVANT GARDE" is an interesting opening and utilizes a lot of synths and electronic aspects that work great for a stage entrance, but it does not sum up the whole album in any way. Tracks such as "EVIDENCE", "DAMNED", "PRAYER",  and "THE OUTRAGE SEXUALITY" sound a little fresher musically and offer a bit more depth in the heaviness department. Although "F.A.K.E" is catchy with the slap bass phrase, it and "PLEDGE" also sounds like they're right off one of their past releases.  "UNELMA" and "PHANTOM" show more of a solid direction change in this album. The guitar work in "UNELMA" is more adventurous and it shines best in the guitar solo while the general contrast between instrumentals and vocals in "PHANTOM" tastefully build off each other. "FAREWELL" is a beautifully slow, abstract, and smooth ballad but it sounds disjointed from the rest of the album. Because "AVANT GARDE" doesn't give a clear preview of the rest of the album, I would consider "EVIDENCE" as a better opening track. The first and last song should come full circle and translate a full summary of what the album is but these two tracks ended up being the only two completely fresh-feeling tracks on the album. 

 

While the release itself is still very strong if you've never listened to lynch. before, it doesn't stray too far from their previous work. This doesn't go to say that the band is not progressing or trying new things but simply that there wasn't a significant change to really create that wow factor that avid listeners are looking for. Listening for the production quality alone you can tell they've tweaked a few minor things to make the depth of their songs a lot more prominent and they've even adopted a few new djent techniques. This album will translate well to live performances just as their past releases have which brings me to one conclusion. In the words of @Zeus, " If GALLOWS was 100% live lynch. and D.A.R.K. was blending the live side with their studio sensibilities, then to me AVANTGARDE feels 70% of the way between D.A.R.K. and GALLOWS but closer to GALLOWS."

 

 

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[Zeus 7997]

I know you touched on it a bit at the end of your review, but I should elaborate a little more.

 

lynch. comes in 3 flavors: concert, studio, and somewhere between. The last three albums hit each of these in turn. I hated the sandpaper sounding GALLOWS and it's singular focus on chugging and aggression. I loved D.A.R.K. because it felt like a studio lynch. album with some stabs at creativity. A few tracks had some iffy riffs but I was willing to overlook that since the entire package was solid. lynch want to return to that "live" sound but it's really hard to capture on disk IMO. By trying to meld the two sides of themselves together they lost all the advantages either one had. Each song sounds like a remix of a lynch. song I already heard and while it's not as one-dimensional as DEATHGAZE's regurgitations, I'm hard pressed to spin this when albums like IBIM and SHADOWS appeal to me infinitely more. I want to like this and maybe this will grow on me, but right now I'm chilling at about a 6/10 myself.

Great review @togz! Sad to say lynch. isn't appearing on any lists from me this year.

[Ro plz 1290]

I love the both of you for doing this! Thanks guys <3

[CAT5 9075]

I've always thought lynch. to be a solid band, but I've never been heavily invested in them. As a result, I never have any great expectations when listening to them. As long as I get a new song or two to bump, then I'm good - and "AVANTGARDE"  gave me "F.A.K.E." and "PHANTOM", which are both great tracks. Granted, the rest of the album was solid, but I doubt I'll revisit in its entirety again. I will say though that listening to this album was overall a more positive experience than the previous release  "D.A.R.K. -In the name of evil-".

[Zeus 7997]

9 hours ago, CAT5 said:

I've always thought lynch. to be a solid band, but I've never been heavily invested in them. As a result, I never have any great expectations when listening to them. As long as I get a new song or two to bump, then I'm good - and "AVANTGARDE"  gave me "F.A.K.E." and "PHANTOM", which are both great tracks. Granted, the rest of the album was solid, but I doubt I'll revisit in its entirety again. I will say though that listening to this album was overall a more positive experience than the previous release  "D.A.R.K. -In the name of evil-".

What was it about D.A.R.K. that rubbed you the wrong way?

[CAT5 9075]

17 hours ago, Zeus said:

What was it about D.A.R.K. that rubbed you the wrong way?

 

Well, I loved "EVOKE" from that album and "Melancholic" was good too, but overall the new album just had more of a luster to it than - at least enough to keep from completely dozing out.

[togz 2004]

To be honest... listening to most of their recent releases.... It's fun and all... like yeah it'd be fun live or something... but often times I find myself not really knowing what song is playing anymore... even though I've been very aware of their releases for a long time. I could probably listen to their discography religiously for weeks and still have songs I mix up with others... But I'm not going to call bad musicians or something on them, because I do enjoy a good lynch listen every now and then. SHADOWS was their peak for me.