Artist: Homecoming
Album: LP01
Label: Blood Blast Distribution
Release Date: 01/12/2019
Country: France
So today we’re taking a look at an album that came out in December last year because unfortunately we only came across it now. We’re talking about Homecoming’s debit album LP01.
Homecoming are a Parisian trio that play a unique blend of post metal, sludge, prog and stoner metal. The incorporate elements from multiple other genres such as post-black metal (particularly in regard to their use of blast beats) and jazz. All of this interweaving of sounds and styles gives the band a unique sound and style and frees them to play basically whatever they like. The band is Théo Guiter (guitar and vocals), Théo Giotti (drums), and Basile Chevalier (bass) (yes there are two Theos in one band).
The album is a perfect blend of eclectic styles and sounds. With the guitar work we get everything from spaced out acid riffs, to atmospheric post metal work and then right through to sludge and black metal riffs. There’s never a dull moment on this release in regard to Theo Guiter guitar work, it keeps things varied and engaging. From downtuned segments, to plucking in parts, to harsh and fast segments, to ethereal soundscapes and acoustic parts, its all there. The guitar alone indicates why the band call themselves “post whatever metal” because it really is hard to nail down their sound and influences to anything specific.
Theo Giotti drum work on the album deserves a heap of praise, its so varied and engaging. Just like the guitar it ebbs and flows and changes and grows and draws influences from all over the musical spectrum. At times its black metal style blast beats, at other times it’s light and airy post metal, then we get stoner metal gallops and grooves and there are even moments where it seems like there’s some jazz influences.
Vocals wise Theo Guiter is simply fantastic. His voice glides over the music, as if it was his destiny to be singing in this band. His clean vocal style at times is well suited ro prog metal but at other times it’s got far more or a hard rock sort of tone to it. It’s actually pretty impressive that it can lend itself to such vastly different genres. Then we have his harsh vocals which sit somewhere between sludge and black metal in their sound. Between these two extremes we have the post metal/sludge staple of harsh shouted vocals that perfectly suit the high energy segments of the album, such as the one around the 2 minute mark on track 2 Rivers of Crystal.
Basile, the 1/3 of the band that isn’t Theo based gives us a fantastic performance on the bass on this release. Not only is his work varied, but its also highly audible in the mix, which for anyone who knows me or reads my review on a regular basis knows is a huge plus in my book. He shifts between low energy atmospheric stuff, high in the mix chunky/funky audible work and technical jazzy segments. His work adds a ton of depth and character to the release, and honestly without it, it just wouldn’t be the same.
The entire album is fantastic, but if I had to pick a top 2 tracks it would probably be Rivers of Crystal and Return. They’re both higher energy tracks and are a ton of fun to listen to. But aside from that they incorporate so many various styles and sounds to them. If I had to pick one more track to praise above the others it would be the opener Planeswalker, its calmer and less aggressive than the other two I mentioned but its a hugely impressive piece of music.
My overall take on the album is that if this is the band’s debut release, I cannot wait to see what they do next, because this is truly impressive. For a band to have created and perfected their own sound and style on their very first album is a pretty rare thing. So, keep your eyes and ears out for the name Homecoming, because I’m sure we’re going to be hearing it in the years to come. Make sure to give this a spin or two because I guarantee you won’t regret taking the time out of your day to do so.
Listen to the full album at the links below:
Bandcamp:
Spotify:
Apple Music:
