Lethe – The First Corpse on the Moon (2017)

For those like us that like trippy experimental music, today we have the brilliant sophomore release of Lethe titled “The First Corpse on the Moon”. This project of Tor-Helge Skei (ex-Manes) and Anna Murphy (ex-Eluveitie) delivers in many different levels, from weird and trippy, to brilliantly catchy and hypnotic. If you liked the band’s debut release and bands like The 3rd and the Mortal (on their later years) and Closed Room, this is one release you don’t want to miss.

The album opens with the intoxicating “Night”, a track that perfectly sets a very jazzy moody vibe. This track slowly introduces the uninitiated to the band’s very unique musical landscape. Very quickly, things get more Trip-Hop oriented with “Inexorbitant Future” and return to ‘heavier’ more Metal-influenced territories with one of our favorites “Down into the Sun” and its catchy vocal arrangements.

With Murphy leaving Eluveitie, Lethe greatly benefited with her creative energy being focused to create mesmerizing tracks like “Teaching Birds How to Fly” and the dreamy album title track – the best song in this release. For those looking to hear an even darker side of the band, “Snow” is a very interesting song that creates a very unique and unsettling atmosphere.

As the album continues to explore different musical directions, “Wind to Fire” reminded us a bit of Anathema with very interesting vocal arrangements. Through this release Anna Murphy’s vocal talents are perfectly showcases in traditional and other non-traditional ways, always showing her wide range and desire to experiment. In terms of the musical ideas explored, Tor-Helge Skei, brilliantly combines a wide variety of styles while keeping things heavy at times and always looking for interesting contrasts.

Closing the release with the heavy riffs of “With You” and the dreamy vocal arrangements of “Exorcism”, Lethe has managed to greatly improve over their first album while pushing things even further. The band masterfully crafts ten very different tracks in this release that showcase their experimental journey. If you are not afraid of trying new things and are looking for more atmospheric and unique music, this is definitely one that you should check out.

Label: My Kingdom Music

Release: February 24th, 2017

Genre: Avant-garde / Experimental / Trip-Hop

Country: Norway / Switzerland