With album artwork like that, was this ever going to be anything but weird? The Lion's Daughter draw from the outer fringes of music on Future Cult. Bringing black metal, industrial and straight-up noise to the table has allowed TLD to make something quite different then their previous sludgy releases.
It's just a shame they didn't go all the way. If they had, Future Cult could have been a game-changer. But TLD seem committed to their old-school ideas, which manifest in the form of cheap 8-bit synths and lo-fi effects badly in need of an update. Had this dropped on an unsuspecting goth scene in late '90s, sure, but nowadays, a track like "Grease Infant" sounds like Dimmu Borgir's first band practice.
The silver lining comes near the end, with "Galaxy Ripper." For the only time on Future Cult, TLD live up to the potential of their last album, mainly due to cranking up the low end, and getting rid of those Atari-sounding synths. The less there is of those, the better.
There are a lot of signs that the Lion's Daughter are still finding their way — good intentions under scattershot ideas. A clearer direction (and less synth) would set things right.
(Season of Mist)It's just a shame they didn't go all the way. If they had, Future Cult could have been a game-changer. But TLD seem committed to their old-school ideas, which manifest in the form of cheap 8-bit synths and lo-fi effects badly in need of an update. Had this dropped on an unsuspecting goth scene in late '90s, sure, but nowadays, a track like "Grease Infant" sounds like Dimmu Borgir's first band practice.
The silver lining comes near the end, with "Galaxy Ripper." For the only time on Future Cult, TLD live up to the potential of their last album, mainly due to cranking up the low end, and getting rid of those Atari-sounding synths. The less there is of those, the better.
There are a lot of signs that the Lion's Daughter are still finding their way — good intentions under scattershot ideas. A clearer direction (and less synth) would set things right.