LEPROUS
Pitfalls
Inside Out Music
4.5/5
Norway’s most adventurous rock band is back, with another mixed offering that sounds both accessible and experimental. Obviously, Leprous are making a hard push towards the mainstream and Pitfalls is no exception to that rule. There are still faint glimmers of the band’s past metal explorations, but once you get a gander of opener “Below” I swear that you’ll no longer be on the fence here. Imagine if pop music was actually more complex than the simple Imagine Dragons verse/chorus repeated ad-infinitum and you’ll see what I’m talking about here. Even so, it’s a bit unfair to call Pitfalls a pop record. They have as much in common with pop as Muse do and that I would consider to be very healthy. There’s still quite a bit of life in Leprous and I just don’t see them fizzing out anytime soon.
“I Lose Hope” brings us into what I would consider to be disco, but it is actually one of those few songs that might be able to bring disco back when it melds with slight progressive, electronic and rock elements – and this is only the second song on the album. I haven’t heard a record with such promise since the early days of Queen. “Observe The Train” features a godlike chorus line, the kind you’ll hear repeated profusely throughout; but listener be warned that this song also requires that you’ll need to ingest light-hearted acoustics and heavy tufts of atmosphere. The song has a kind of ethereal vibe about it, separating it heavily from anything else on the album, as any record should do. “Be My Throne” is a bit bouncier, as it brings orchestral flair and electronic dance beats together in a way that would make David Bowie blush. The listener can definitely dance to this one too, which makes it a bit of an unexpected note in the Leprous discography, but I feel that Pitfalls is a celebration of music as a whole, rather than a recording that stick to one familiar sound or style.
Though let’s be honest here, this is Leprous and you do want to hear a couple of heavy riffs now and again, which listeners will actually get towards the end of the album. There’s a number called “At The Bottom” which dives into guitar, while “Foreigner” is an all around metal cut, complete with some harsh vocals in the background. I’m sure that many of those who are just curious as to whether or not “Leprous went back to metal” will settle for “Foreigner” and be done with it and that’s fine, as it’s a great song and truly captures what we’ve loved from this band since they backed Ihsahn.
Unfortunately, “Foreigner” is not a single here and I’m scratching my head right now wondering why “Alleviate” and “Distant Bells” are. Furthermore, “Observe The Train” is one of those songs that could have skyrocketed the band into the mainstream, because it’s a softer cut with a catchy chorus that I can see being covered heavily on modern singing shows. If noting else, that’s a great way for a band to come to greater recognition. When you decide a single, you have to pick something that is going to catch a person’s attention. I just felt like they had picked a knowingly potent number in “Below” but then decided to randomly pull the other two numbers out of a hat, which I feel is a bit odd. This is just a minor complaint though and I don’t feel that it will affect listeners from not purchasing the album once it is released.
Saying little more, Leprous have proved themselves once again with Pitfalls and let us hope that the mainstream music scene will finally notice and allow these guys the chance to get in the spotlight under their own accord. They may have stood in the shadow of Ihsahn years ago, but the time is now to give these hard working, talented and incredibly inventive musicians the attention that they deserve. Even though the album is titled Pitfalls, it is very much far from that description. In my opinion, this might be one of the best recordings that the band have ever released.