Album Review – K-Lacura : Portraits of the Faceless (2012)

 

Didcot quintet K-Lacura have been making a name for themselves on tour with the likes of Glamour Of The Kill, Ghost Of A Thousand and will also soon support huge UK progressive band The Safety Fire, and now they’ve released an album to attempt to back up their hype entitled ‘Portraits of the Faceless’. It’s a debut album with energy, solid structure and a thrilling edge, and although it isn’t entirely original in both sound and atmosphere, it has accomplished moments that show potential.

The album starts with ‘Beneath the Buried’, which sets the band at all out attack, with fast riffs and faster rhythms combined with harsh vocals that sway back and forth between smooth sung melodic parts. The dual guitars work well and as the track continues an insistence on fury and aggression gives the song memorable dynamic. ‘Carouse’ slips into generic territory at times, and although the instrumentals are executed well, it feels like a less effective version of a Funeral For A Friend track. It’s that band that can be heard in droves, although the impeccable melodic streak is missing.

Title track ‘Portraits of the Faceless’ is a lot more promising, and it’s a surging beast of a song with brutal riffs and thrashing beats, although the clean vocals struggle to sit well on top of the instrumentals. When the song kicks into overdrive and the vocals are screamed, the track has edge and danger, and that’s where it really thrives. ‘Drop Down’ is powerful and vigorous, the vocals steering into the fast-spat territory of nu-metal, yet the track never feels lodged in the past. It has a definitive groove and intensity , which drives the song along in overdrive as solos coarse over chugged riffs.

‘Severed & Silenced’ has a delicate and harmonious intro (with strings and guitar) before cymbal crashes and a bellowing roar bring in a slow-groove heavy behemoth with awakens the record from potential slumber. As the tempo is pushed, the excitement of the track is clear and this is the most enjoyable song of the album so far. The shifts in pace are expertly done and keep the listener on their toes. ‘Receiving End Of Bullets’ may have a bit of a terrible song title, but  the track is a real thunderous white knuckle ride. There isn’t great substance behind it, but it is fun none-the-less, with raging guitars and commanding vocals.

‘Fold’ goes back to basics with an impressive take on punk-metal, ‘Thirty3’ is an adventure but never really reaches the heights it hints at, ‘7448’ is engaging  for a while but never really gets going, while final track ‘S.H.I.A.B’ is utterly bland.

The band may have taken 6 years to release their debut album, but it would appear that time hasn’t allowed the sound of the band to really mature and become something amazing. Unfortunately, ‘Portraits of the Faceless’ is fairly forgettable, although there are some shining moments that give K-Lacura an essence of potential. There are fundamental flaws that can be addressed, and if they are, this band could really be a force to be reckoned with.