- Apr 5, 2003
- 2,668
- 2
- 38
Lupara - Lupara
Crash Music - CMU61187 - 2006
By Brandon Strader
Lupara is slowly gaining some acceleration into the metal scene. They're still pretty underground, even with their debut, Lupara, available through Crash Music. They haven't struck up a big deal, and are functioning almost independently. I'm proud to announce that their self-titled debut is quite good, and definitely worth checking out, so there's no excuse for folks to not give this one a listen or even buy it. The band have violently carved their mark into the flesh of the death metal scene, and everything is in order: The vocalist's guttural growls and screaming vocals, the downtuned guitars with plenty of distortion and a great tone, and a great percussion performance with a slick sound. The bass drum is very punchy, yet it also sounds real, and the cymbals and snare are mixed perfectly and have a nice tone.
The largest weakness is the songwriting, which isn't really all that bad, but it really isn't that good either. You've probably heard most of these riffs already, and vocalists who sound very similar to this one. You could probably hear a hundred different bands doing this same sound, and a bunch who do it better. It's really an average album by songwriting standards, although the performances are tight and aggressive and the album as a whole is pretty enjoyable, especially if you're into the style which most of you probably are. The solos are one of the positive aspects, especially the cool usage of the whammy bar during the solo on "No Pity On The Ants", though the solos don't show off nor shred. The other good thing about the album is the crushing guitar tone that is extremely strong, and when joined by the guttural growls, the music really decimates.
Lupara spend a lot of time with generally slow-paced riffing, which heightens the strength of powerchords of course, but it does become a bit boring after a while. Luckily, they also have plenty of faster-paced stuff throughout the album, but perhaps a bit more would have been more preferable. They really need to seek out their own style and niche rather than playing out the same old formulas put in place by so many older (and sometimes better) bands. It's really not a debut to be ashamed of, however, and like I said - it really is enjoyable, especially at very loud volumes. So check it out, the album has grim artwork and the band is named after a sawed-off shotgun used by Mafia dudes... if that's not cool enough for you, I don't know what is.
6.5/10
UM's Review Rating Scale
Official Lupara Website
Official Crash Music Website
Crash Music - CMU61187 - 2006
By Brandon Strader
Lupara is slowly gaining some acceleration into the metal scene. They're still pretty underground, even with their debut, Lupara, available through Crash Music. They haven't struck up a big deal, and are functioning almost independently. I'm proud to announce that their self-titled debut is quite good, and definitely worth checking out, so there's no excuse for folks to not give this one a listen or even buy it. The band have violently carved their mark into the flesh of the death metal scene, and everything is in order: The vocalist's guttural growls and screaming vocals, the downtuned guitars with plenty of distortion and a great tone, and a great percussion performance with a slick sound. The bass drum is very punchy, yet it also sounds real, and the cymbals and snare are mixed perfectly and have a nice tone.
The largest weakness is the songwriting, which isn't really all that bad, but it really isn't that good either. You've probably heard most of these riffs already, and vocalists who sound very similar to this one. You could probably hear a hundred different bands doing this same sound, and a bunch who do it better. It's really an average album by songwriting standards, although the performances are tight and aggressive and the album as a whole is pretty enjoyable, especially if you're into the style which most of you probably are. The solos are one of the positive aspects, especially the cool usage of the whammy bar during the solo on "No Pity On The Ants", though the solos don't show off nor shred. The other good thing about the album is the crushing guitar tone that is extremely strong, and when joined by the guttural growls, the music really decimates.
Lupara spend a lot of time with generally slow-paced riffing, which heightens the strength of powerchords of course, but it does become a bit boring after a while. Luckily, they also have plenty of faster-paced stuff throughout the album, but perhaps a bit more would have been more preferable. They really need to seek out their own style and niche rather than playing out the same old formulas put in place by so many older (and sometimes better) bands. It's really not a debut to be ashamed of, however, and like I said - it really is enjoyable, especially at very loud volumes. So check it out, the album has grim artwork and the band is named after a sawed-off shotgun used by Mafia dudes... if that's not cool enough for you, I don't know what is.
6.5/10
UM's Review Rating Scale
Official Lupara Website
Official Crash Music Website
