Friday, September 20, 2013

Lebanon Hanover - Tomb For Two (2013)


Lebanon Hanover
Tomb For Two

Lebanon Hanover has a new album which is full of inspiration and passion. They are very straight while describing our world of today and our feelings in this reality which sometimes seems to be very cold and somber; because people seems to be in the duty of creating even bigger distances between themselves  through insensitivity, apathy, and mental alienation. “Lose your digital life” is an statement about to live a real life far away from the delusion of social media with lots of “friends”, and smart phones replacing real talk with real people (and of course real friends). In opposition to that, they have a critic view: They go really deep into our feelings, and they go really deep into their vision of the world of today as well. All of this is done with great passion for art, music, love, and…life. Regarding to their musical style, Lebanon Hanover is a consummate Post Punk band with the spirit of the early 80’s; which comes with a stunning combination of sounds, and a unique charm which have seduced to people from the whole underground scene of today. People around the world have felt in love with Lebanon Hanover, due to the sincerity and unique talent of this duo. I think that people have this connection with them because of the combination of their awesome music and how the lyrics appeal to our feelings, creating a very honest and strong artist-audience connection.

“Sadness Is Rebellion” comes with a totally 80’s sound, is Post punk at its finest with a very solid bass line, shynts emulating some theremin, drum machine, and then  the guitar comes with a very smooth sound, the voice of Larissa is so deep and clear. Quite a good song; is perfect to introduce you to the musical world created by Lebanon Hanover. “Your Fork Moves” has a stronger presence of shynths, great rhythm for the Dark dance floor here! “Stalhlwerk” will take you to some bleak and isolated place; the voice of William has a very dramatic tone here, and the final moments of the song seems to depict some mental turmoil. This is really impressive.”Hall of ice” is like a sober and cold cathedral of shadows. It is majestic and captivating. In “Gallowdance” the voice of Larissa has lots of feeling; the way in that she delivers those lyrics is very touching: “We both know the string is always ready” Gloom and Doom love song….

“I Believe You Can Survive” is mid-paced and well assembled, with those very melodic bass lines creating a structure here, this song is very dynamic and catchy.”Tomb For Two” has some minimalistic rhythm, eerie synth chords, and they sing together with ghostly charm: “Tomb for two, morbid lovers”. The next track is: “Autofocus Has Ruined Quality” it has this drum machine rhythm, which is like some kind of gloomy waltzing. A good track if you want to be dancing on the edge…literally. “Midnight Creature” belongs to the night, is dark and melodic at the same time. “Invite me To Your Country” is cold, contemplative, and sounds like if they are in the distance waving goodbye ...or till the next time! This is a very atmospheric track, and is a good ending song.

Their progression as artists is remarkable, have to say that they have recorded and mixed the previous albums, and this time the mix was made by the experienced Anders Peterson (Phosphor, Keluar, the previous 7” “Gallowdance”, etc.) This is their third album in less than two years, and every one of their works has a unique flavor, and they have shown some twist of innovation in their sound with every new record: ”The World Is Getting Colder”   showed to the world what Lebanon Hanover can do: They showed this stunning combination of sounds, which is retro and modern at the same time.”Why Just Not Be solo” is kind of a more radiant album with this organic sound which is more guitar and bass oriented.  And now here’s “Tomb For Two” which could be described as a darker album compared with their previous works, and it is a really impressive album. The aesthetic of cold has displayed their somber tones here….

Daniel Olvera