It’s rare in this day and age that you get excited each and every time an artist you dig puts out something new. I mean, everyone goes through ups and downs, peaks and valleys but sometimes, just sometimes, you find an artist that just hits that mark every single time so that when nary a note is heard from an impending new opus you can’t help but feel giddy.
LizZard is one of those rare bands. And even before massive first single “Blowdown” landed late last year I knew that the French trio’s fourth full-length would most definitely be on our most anticipated list for the new year. And after hearing all of Eroded, it’s beyond evident that that early placement was well deserved.
“Corroded” is the calm before the storm as this soothing, ethereal instrumental number that’s kinda transcendent while also being kinda intuitive on what’s to come is a bit of a sonic false flag but beautiful nonetheless. What is to come is “Blowdown”, a modern Prog anthem and a hefty slab of what LizZard means to 2021 with a hefty crunch, shuffling yet pummeling drum lines from Katy Elwell and Mathieu Ricou’s emotive pipes laying it all on the table alongside William Knox’s lush low end. I’ve been a fan of the band since their sophomore opus and “Blowdown” has got to be the best single released yet. It’s a bit of Tool and a bit of Gojira-style heaviness with polyrhythmic blasts from Ricou on guitar that truly make this a stand out in the LizZard catalog.
“Haywire” is pure gold displaying this kind of immaculate musicianship when a collective works so well together with acoustic flourishes accenting the flurry of Elwell’s perfunctory pulse as Ricou croons within a beautiful chorus. On the other hand, “Flood” is a veritable wall of fuzz moving towards this accessible alchemy of heavy shreds and rapid pounding with Ricou’s wails hovering over all.
“Hunted” is perfectly executed modern Prog punctuated by pluckings from Ricou and Knox and accented by Elwell’s stellar staccato attacks while “The Decline” aims for the stars with harrowing guitar lines screeching to the heavens and Ricou putting on one of his most earnest, honest vocal performances..
The title track is a moody number with echoes of the more mellow moments of Pantera’s “This Love” in there before an anti-climactic climax in the vein of Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt” saunters in. After a brief instrumental interlude (“Usque Ad Terram”), “Blue Moon” continues the mood backed by an immense wall of sound and an equally large vocal delivery from Ricou until, eventually, “Avalanche” provides a glimpse of the future with a Tool-esque cerebral soliloquy that’s every bit as inspired as what’s come before with feet firmly planted in the direction of what’s to come.
Eroded is out via Pelagic Records on February 19th. Pre-orders are up now and can be checked out by yer peepers by heading here. For more on LizZard, follow them across the socials by clicking here, here, or here.